Anonymous wrote:You're lucky the middle driver is honest. He could have said you rear ended him, and pushed his car into the car in front. But yeah, you're at fault for hitting the car in front of you

Op here - Yes, he was really nice and honest. He even asked if I had medical injuries, and offered to pay for those. I told him I’m fine and not to worry about my bumper. I honestly didn’t know that it would be my fault, because I hit him after he hit someone, but now I understand. I’m really lucky he was honest.

Op here - So I reached out to the driver who hit the guy in front, and caused the accident. He’s a really nice guy, and he said the other driver isn’t going through insurance, and is offering to pay for my (mild) damage. I feel like it’s at least half my fault, so I told him no worries and that I don’t need him to pay. I’m glad I didn’t call insurance because rates in California are already high and I didn’t know that this could be considered my fault. I’m really lucky the driver who caused the accident (but who I hit) isn’t coming after ME. So, I’m not going to take advantage of him offering to pay for my bumper!

I was involved in a traffic accident albeit a minor one years ago. On ramp, driver a few cars ahead of me stopped, basically, on a on-ramp. Car behind him hit him, so on and so on. Driver who started the collision process drunk. However, car that hit him from behind guilty of following too close. What I'm trying to say is, you are responsible for what's in front of you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You were following too close. Hitting his car is your fault.

- btdt

Even if I hit him because he hit someone else first?

NP, yes. You are responsible for what's in front of you.

Less than a car's length is too close.

you'll probably be found at fault for the whole accident.

i was in the car when my friend absentmindedly started to drive straight when only the left turn light was green. i shouted "stop, it's red" and she did. but the car behind her played follow the leader, i guess, and started moving as well. when my friend stopped, that car rear-ended her car.

even though when the police came my friend told them that she was at fault because she started to go on a red and quickly stopped, the officer told her that the driver is responsible for the front of their car, not the back. my friend's insurance never went up nor did she get a ticket/have to go to court. the other driver's insurance paid to fix my friend's car.

Why do people follow so closely? I leave a healthy distance to the car in front of me but the drivers in this area cram themselves up my ass.

Just terrible drivers around here. Yes, its your fault.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You were following too close. Hitting his car is your fault.

- btdt

Even if I hit him because he hit someone else first?

Do you suppose that if he had jammed on his breaks and narrowly missed hitting the car in front of him, that you *wouldn't* have hit him? Of course not.

You did not hit him because ht hit the car in front of him, you hit him because he had to stop short, and you were following to close.

Use your head, OP.

You're at fault. Following too closely for the speed and reaction time - leave more room in the future. You need to assume that the person in front of you can stop suddenly at any time.

Your challenge is going to be proving that you hitting the middle car didn't cause them to hit the car in front. If the middle driver isn't honest with his insurance company, he could try to pin the whole thing on you. Gather whatever evidence you can, including any witnesses. For that reason alone, I'd notify my own insurance company, so that my version of events is on file first.

Failure to maintain speed to prevent an accident.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You were following too close. Hitting his car is your fault.

- btdt

Even if I hit him because he hit someone else first?

If you had been traveling at a safe distance, you wouldn’t have hit him no matter why he stopped short.

This was not a safe following distance; your fault.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You were following too close. Hitting his car is your fault.

- btdt

Even if I hit him because he hit someone else first?

Yes. How do you not understand that you were following too closely? You did not give yourself enough time to stop.

How far to travel behind depends in part on speed for this reason. You need for there to be two seconds between the bumper of the car in front of you passing an object and the front bumper of your own passing that object. Two seconds gives you time to stop if the car in front of you stops suddenly.

Obviously this does not apply if you are all stopped or going less than 5mph.

You're lucky the middle driver is honest. He could have said you rear ended him, and pushed his car into the car in front. But yeah, you're at fault for hitting the car in front of you