who is at fault in a rear end collison?
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who is at fault in a rear end collison?
if a person does not signal and unsafely changes lane and gets rear ended who is at fault?
Asked on May 13, 2009 under Accident Law, California
Answers:
L.M., Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
Usually in a rearend accident, the party in the back is deemed to be at fault because that party must be traveling at a safe enough distance to be able to come to a stop in time in case there's an emergency stop in front. There are some mitigating circumstances, however. When a driver unsafely changes lanes to enter the lane in front of you without signaling, that unsafe driver should share the liability. Typically the insurance adjusters will "duke it out" and come to an agreement about percentages of shared liability. If, however, the police report pins the liablility solely on the driver in the rear, and there are no witnesses to state what occurred, and the other party denies having changed lanes unsafely and without a signal, it will be difficult to make a case for shared liability and it will likely end up fully on the party in the rear.
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