What is a multi-vehicle accident

A multi-vehicle collision (colloquially known as a pile-up or chain-reaction crash) is a road traffic accident involving many vehicles. Generally occurring on high-capacity and high-speed routes such as freeways, they are one of the deadliest forms of traffic accidents. The most disastrous pile-ups have involved more than a hundred vehicles.
Wikipedia – multiple vehicle collision

Main causes of multi-car accidents

There are several main factors that usually can cause a chain car accident. Of course there may be other circumstances or a combination of factors but those are rare.

  1. Low visibility conditions is probably the most common cause. This factor in combination with drivers tailgating each other is the perfect recipe for a multi-car accident.
  2. Icy roads is another factor which may cause this type of accidents even when visibility conditions are good. The most dangerous is black ice, especially at round curve or hilly road segments.
  3. Sudden breaking or stops, again in combination with tailgating, is another ubiquitous factor. On high traffic with high speeds, it is sometimes impossible to react and stop on time even if you keep safe distance, hitting another vehicle and creating a chain reaction.

Multi-vehicle accidents aftermath

Accidents of this type may involve dozens and even hundreds of vehicles which makes them especially deadly. Crumpled and squeezed together, metal vehicle bodies decrease chances to escape for those who survived and able to move. Vehicles in a pile-up are usually hit by other cars multiple times, some of them at high speeds. Trajectories, directions and speeds are unpredictable, making hard to avoid the collision for those who just approaching. People who managed to escape their damaged cars may be hit by another vehicles. All of this dramatically increase chances of getting serious injuries or even fatal injuries for drivers and passengers involved.

When everything seems to be over, another dangerous factor comes – fire! It can quickly spread from its epicenter via spilled gas, car bodies and other flammable materials, and cover the entire area.

Liability in multi-vehicle collisions

Such cases usually present a big number of legal questions. These accidents are most often very serious and result in claims for personal injury or wrongful death.

It is a most common belief that the driver who collided with a car first and started the chain reaction is responsible for all injuries and damage occurred. This is not always true. There may by multiple parties’ negligence contributed to the overall damage. A single collision can quickly become a pile-up if another driver(s) who may have a possibility to avoid the first collision, failed to do so due to distracted driving or DUI. So the third driver’s negligence have also contributed to the damage and injuries of all vehicles that end up in the chain. Other parties such a government organizations responsible for road condition, or car manufacturers responsible for car malfunction may have played a role in starting the collision.

If you are sustaining injuries from a multi-vehicle accident, you probably have questions about how are you going to get your compensation and who should you file your claim against. Since this type of cases is complicated, it makes a lot of sense to discuss your case with an lawyer who specializes in motor vehicle accident cases and has enough resources required to investigate such a complex case. Please call Toronto car accident expert lawyers at
1 (844) 722-5246 or Book your FREE consultation.

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