I rear ended some guy, is this my fault?

Your Open QuestionShow me another Â» I rear ended this guy because we slammed on for an accident infront of us - is it my fault? i was driving down a motorway at 70mph legally and with sufficiant space, i was in the process of changing in to the outside lane with indicators when all of the three lanes of traffic infront went red with brake lights, some woman had span out of control and hallted all traffic smashing into six cars, i was now the second car back in the outside lane and slammed on my brakes in an emergency stop! in order not to collide with the ongoing crash, i ended up skidding and hitting the guy infront who did manage to stop in time !! is this my fault ? the guys insurance company says that ours is a seperate incident because we never hit the woman and i disagree, we slammed on because of her and my car just took longer to stop than his! i had full vision of the initial accident and what i believe to be full control of my car upuntil the brakes on my car locked up and forced me in to the man in front, is this my fault or are we part of the initial accident and is it her fault?

bisto376	If I remember correctly, there is only one exemption to the 'rear ender' when 2 vehicles are travelling in a forward direction, it is the case of Scott v Warren 1979. It stated if the vehicle in front brakes sharp enough WITHOUT reason to force the rear vehicle to impact it. The liability lies with the lead vehicle. In this case though, YOU are at fault!

WelshLad	Yes, if you left enough space as you say, you won't have rear ended the car in front.

Karen	It is most definitely your fault. No question about it. You were either driving too fast for the road conditions, weather or line of sight or you did not maintain adequate spacing with the vehicles in front of you. It is your responsibility as a safe and defensive driver to be able to assess what is happening around you and provide adequate braking distance no matter what the conditions.

Sarky	"70mph legally and with sufficiant space, " Wrong...... there obviously wasn't sufficient space if you rear ended him. It is entirely your fault. The insurance company is totally correct. The woman who span is not the cause of the accident, YOU ARE for not allowing enough room to safely stop. Mark R - what a load of rubbish.

Timbo is here	1. It was a seperate incident 2. When you hit the back of someone it is always your fault as you clearly failed to leave enough space to stop without skidding and swerving 3. You cannot blame the cars brakes for skidding, they all do that. The skid did not force you into the car in front. What caused you to hit the car in front was poor car control or driving too close and maybe some of both coupled with poor observation. 4. If you were the correct distance from the car in front then its driver was clearly better than you at stopping Are you having a laugh? "Skid forced me into the man in front" - THE GUY IN FRONT SOTPPED IN TIME - DOES THIS TELL YOU ANYTHING???? Scares me that drivers like you who obviously believe what you have writtren use the same roads as my family and I.

champer	The facts are simple. You rammed into him from behind as he stopped and you didn't. Why he stopped is nothing to do with it. You are required to drive at such a distance and speed that you CAN stop safely, the oft quoted example being the car in front braking suddenly when a child runs into the road. And your brakes don't "force you into the man in front", you did that I'm afraid.

John	You should have kept a safe distance from the car in front. If you had then you'd have been able to stop in time. Hence, it's your fault, sorry.

Mark R	Any accident is No-Ones fault, hence ACCIDENT Do not admit Blame as this will cancel your Insurance As you say 70mph Legally, the speed limit is 70mph, thats the maximum legally allowed. However you should reduce in certain weather conditions. Ask yourself what caused the woman to spin out of control? Was it wet? Or the fabled black and white dog that runs in front of the car and is never seen again? You accident was caused by the driver in Front taking evasive action from an accident in Front of Him. He managed to stop, and even thought you say you had sufficient space you did not manage to stop. So we go back to Road conditions or sub standard brakes on your car, as they locked up. Either way, from the insurance side, it is still Not your fault. You can argue the accident was cause by their client braking ferociously for no reason. When they say it was to avoid an accident, tell them that that was a seperate Incident nothing to do with this. From a Law point of view... There is Driving without due care and attention.

Anna	I quote: "i was driving down a motorway at 70mph legally and with sufficiant space" - clearly not if you didn't have enough time and space to stop before hitting the car in front. It is entirely your fault.

Nicky	It most certainly is your fault. You had not left enough distance to bake. Simple as that.

Carlos	No it's not your fault, the car you hit magically appeared in front of you because she wanted to be hit by you. And by that I mean, yes, it was your fault. I would suggest discussing this with your insurance agent, not your customer service support.

bard	Yes, it is your fault. The car in front of you stopped and you weren't able to stop in time. The other accident has got nothing to do with your inability to stop.

Duffer	You are at fault unless he was reversing. An unexpected obstacle causing sudden violent braking is why we are all reminded to not drive so close to the leading vehicle, but we all do it.