Not all car accidents in North Carolina are standard two-vehicle collisions. Many involve three or more vehicles, such as a chain reaction crash or a pileup accident. Knowing who to hold liable or financially responsible for a multi-vehicle crash is important if you wish to recover fair compensation for your losses. An investigation will typically be conducted to determine and assign fault across one or more parties.
If you have been injured in a multi-vehicle car crash, contact our Wilmington car accident attorneys at Shipman Wright Moore, LLP and schedule your free consultation today.
Who Pays for a Car Accident in North Carolina?
North Carolina is an at-fault state, meaning the driver responsible for causing the crash must pay for the car accident victim’s losses. If a driver can show with evidence that one of the other drivers involved caused the accident, the first driver can recover insurance benefits from the at-fault driver’s carrier.
North Carolina state laws require liability car insurance coverage to operate a motor vehicle. Every driver should have a minimum of at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident in bodily injury coverage, plus $50,000 for property damage.
More than one driver may be held accountable for a multi-vehicle crash. This can compound and increase the insurance coverage available to you, making it possible for you to recover the full amount of your medical bills, property damage and other losses.
How Does Fault Work in a Pileup or Chain Reaction Accident?
When a car accident involves three or more drivers, an in-depth investigation will be performed by law enforcement and insurance companies to assign a degree of fault to each party that contributed to the crash. In general, fault will go to any driver who was careless, reckless or violated a traffic law leading up to the accident.
Common examples include:
- Speeding
- Distracted driving
- Texting and driving
- Drowsy driving
- Drunk driving
- Tailgating
- Failing to yield the right-of-way
- Reckless or aggressive driving
- Red-light running
- Wrong-way driving
If an individual commits any legal violation or behavior behind the wheel that a reasonably prudent driver would not have, this can place a degree of fault on that driver. Investigators will use evidence such as witness statements, police reports, official crash scene photographs or video footage, and accident reconstruction experts to assign percentages of blame.
North Carolina’s Contributory Negligence Rule and Pileup Accidents
North Carolina is unique in that it abides by a strict legal doctrine known as contributory negligence. This law leaves no room for partial fault when it comes to recovering compensation for an automobile accident.
If an investigation determines that two of the drivers in a multi-vehicle crash are at fault, for example, even if one driver is only assigned a minimal percentage (just 1 percent), both of them will be disqualified from recovering compensation from the other at-fault party.
Only the parties with 0 percent of fault will remain eligible for financial compensation. This is why it is critical to hire a Wilmington car accident lawyer to represent you in the aftermath of a multi-vehicle accident in North Carolina.
The Importance of Hiring an Attorney for a Multi-Vehicle Accident Case
A car accident attorney in Wilmington, NC can work against insurance companies that may try to shift the blame to you to bar your financial recovery. You can trust your lawyer to build a case against one of the other drivers using strong evidence.
Your lawyer can hire crash experts to reconstruct the accident and establish that one of the other parties is to blame, for instance. Your car accident attorney in Wilmington, NC can also challenge the contributory negligence rule to protect your financial recovery as much as possible.
If you’ve been involved in a multi-vehicle crash anywhere in North Carolina, contact Shipman Wright & Moore, LLP, for a free consultation about your rights and legal options.