Multi-Vehicle Car Accident Attorney
Multi-Vehicle Car Accident Attorney
Experienced Georgia Multi-Vehicle Accident Attorney
Multi-vehicle car accidents are referred to as chain reaction accidents. They often occur on high-speed roads and highways when one or more drivers make a mistake or follow too closely. The chain reaction that occurs when one car hits another creates a very dangerous accident that often leads to a vehicle pile-up. These crashes can be confusing in determining what party or parties are at fault. At Sessions & Fleischman, we can help you demonstrate the parties at fault in a multi-vehicle accident and lead you to receive the compensation that you deserve.
Who Pays for My Injuries when Multiple Cars Are Involved?
It can be difficult to navigate through who is at fault in an accident involving multiple cars. Georgia uses a comparative fault model in order for judges and juries to determine the percentage of liability amongst the drivers. O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. Under Georgia’s comparative fault model, if you were injured in an accident and is determined to be less than 50% at fault for the accident, then you will be able to recover for your injuries. However, depending on what percentage is determined to be your fault, the award of damages will be reduced by your fault percentage.
For example, if you were injured in an accident in Georgia and you sustained $500,000 in injuries and you were determined to be 20% at fault, then your total recovery would be $500,000 minus 20% of $500,000 which is $100,000, thus, $400,000.
Chain Reaction Multi-Vehicle Accidents
With the growing population and cars on the road, Georgia highways often have chain reaction accidents involving multiple vehicles. Although it may be easy to put the blame on the very back vehicle for the accident, it may not always be the case. For example, there may be an accident involving only two vehicles and while stopped due to the accident, a third vehicle may come and rear-end the stopped vehicles. In such a case, the Georgia comparative fault model described above will be used to determine the percentage of liability.
What is an example case that Ben Sessions has worked on?
In Macon, GA, right before 6 PM on July 2018, Samuel Fields, collided with a Honda CRV, enabling a chain reaction of accidents involving a traffic light pole and a fire hydrant.Fields was headed southbound in his Ford Expedition on Pierce Avenue as he began to cross the road’s center line. From there, the Expedition hit a Honda CRV, driven by David Dante, as the Honda was turning onto Pierce Avenue from Vineville. The Expedition then proceeded to not only knock over a traffic light pole at the corner, but the SUV also hit a fire hydrant in the process.
Due to the car’s impact, the fire hydrant detached itself from the ground, sending it onto the road. A Mitsubishi Fuso then ran over the fire hydrant, causing damage to George Kitchen’s Mitsubishi. As Kitchen’s collision was occurring, Fields’ Expedition hit a Chevy Silverado after hitting the fire hydrant.Fields and the one passenger in his SUV were both sent the Navicent Health Medical Center in order to be check for their injuries in the multiple collisions. Fields ended up being cited for reckless driving.
The multiple accidents caused a lot of traffic on Vineville Avenue due to the damaged traffic light pole. Hitting the traffic light pole caused malfunctions and power problems for the multi-direction traffic lights on Vineville’s “suicide lane”. Cars were forced to detour for hours at a time because the traffic light at the Pio Nono and Pierce Avenue were no longer working. Repairs were made to the traffic lights overnight.
Have You Been Injured in A Multi-Vehicle Car Accident?
If you or a loved one has recently been injured in a multi-vehicle accident in Georgia, contact Sessions & Fleischman. Attorney Ben Sessions has years of experience in handling personal injury cases. To learn how the lawyers at Sessions & Fleischman can help you, call 470-225-7710 to schedule a free consultation today.
Transcript:
It’s not uncommon at all to have insurers in accidents involving multiple vehicles to point the finger at one another, and to really try to minimize their potential exposure or liability out of an accident. A lot of times I’ll see insurers who you’ll have a defendant in the case who clearly was at fault. And who was the primary party who was responsible for causing the accident involving let’s say two or three other vehicles that insurance company oftentimes will take a position. And it doesn’t matter really which insurance company we we’re talking about that insurance company often will take a position that says, Hey, our insured is 70% responsible for trying to really cut off 30% of their liability. That is not at all uncommon in a case. That is pre-suit. That is before you file a lawsuit to hear that sort of thing from an insurance company, they’re trying to get the other insurance kind of needs to chip in to settle the case.
What you’ll often find though, is that after you file a lawsuit, after you show them that, Hey, we’re not going to accept you taking less than a hundred percent. Then you can obviously go and get more, more money from the other insurance companies, but we’re not going to accept you taking less than a hundred percent of liability out of this case. We’re going to hold your person fully responsible for this. Whenever you actually file a lawsuit. A lot of towns, which we’ll figure out is that the insurance company will fold on that. They’ll pretty quickly realize, Hey, this person is not going to accept a small or decreased amount of money just because we’re trying to apportion some liability over to the other insurance companies or the other people who are involved in the accident. So it’s really important that you know, whether or not your lawyer’s willing to take a stay in for you and to say, Hey, we’re not going to let them get away with this little game of trying to get rid of some of their liability, throw it over to the other party, to save themselves some money, whether or not your lawyer’s going to be willing to stick in there with you to hold that person responsible.
And then ultimately you can get a really good recovery out of the case. I had a case recently where there was a party who was clearly at fault for the primary cause of an accident. They did that same sort of game where they try to attribute some fault to the other party. The other party’s insurance company obviously is saying, no, we’re not at all at fault. We didn’t set this thing into motion. It was that guy who is trying to throw some blame at us who calls the entirety of the accident. We put the case into suit that insurance company folded up the primary party, but then we also had the additional benefit of the party who really didn’t cause the accident left the scene of the accident. So they had what’s called punitive damages exposure. In the case, we settled for the part that was filed against the party who is actually at fault for causing the accident.
But then because they had a little bit of fault from the party who actually left the scene, that insurance company ended up paying the entirety of their policy limits as well. So it worked out really well for the client. She really got a bonus by, of just being willing to hang in there for the long haul, let us put the case into litigation and then get a really good settlement out of it. So it, it illustrates the importance of having a lawyer who’s willing to actually not let them get away with it. And who’s willing to put the case in the suit and fight for you just a little bit longer. And then you got a real recovery out of the case. Hope you all are doing well and staying safe. I hope to see you soon.
