Who's at Fault? (Three Car Nose to Tail)

sammyq on 07/02/2024 - 21:51
Last edited 08/02/2024 - 00:29 by 1 other user

A mate of mine (Car A) a few days ago was involved in a car accident and we were discussing on who was at fault.

Three cars were involved. Pretty much he wanted to turn right at the intersection on an amber light but decided not to go in the last second and made a hard stop. He stopped on the pedestrian crossing and a bit after it. Car B initially assumed that Car A was going to go and was right behind Car A. However, it managed to stop without hitting Car A by a few cm's (most likely the AEB kicked in and stopped the car by a hard stop). Car C also initially assumed A and B were going to go and only started to stop in the last second. Didn't manage to stop on time and rear ended Car B.

Area between the blue lines is the pedestrian crossing.

Of course I have a MS Paint diagram.

So who would be at fault in this case? I'm thinking that this isn't a simple case of who rear ends the car in front is at fault ?

Poll Options

• 5
  A
• 3
  B
• 365
  C
• 4
  AB

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  splicer on 09/02/2024 - 09:10

  +1

  Always make sure the car in front of you has gone, don't THINK they are going to do something.

  If there is a car in front of me, I watch that car, not the oncoming traffic. I've seen a few accidents like this. Everyone is in such a rush. Don't rush.

  These cars were obviously right up each other's asses. Tailgating and rushing leads to accidents.

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  mapax on 09/02/2024 - 09:45

  OP, you planning on any follow up or are you ghosting this thread now?

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  Sal in SA on 09/02/2024 - 10:16

  C all day long, hope you err.. hope 'mate' has insurance .. will watch for another thread on that I guess.

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  freekay on 09/02/2024 - 11:53

  Plot twist. OP was Car C all along…

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  AustriaBargain on 09/02/2024 - 12:02

  You should be a safe enough distance in case any car needs to suddenly stop.

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  Arnold1 on 09/02/2024 - 12:11

  +1

  Speak up OP which car were you? Say it!!!

  • 

    banana365 on 09/02/2024 - 13:40

    +2

    Their silence points to 'C'.

  • 

    sammyq on 09/02/2024 - 15:01

    -3

    None. It was my mate that was driving and my argument was that he should be at fault for stopping when he should've went.

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  capslock janitor on 09/02/2024 - 14:09

  I'm thinking that this isn't a simple case of who rear ends the car in front is at fault ?

  Simples as that. C. Next.

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  TiredKitty78 on 09/02/2024 - 14:09

  -4

  A - FAULT - Given the distance over the line that their sudden braking left them, and that the car behind them may have collided with them, it was likely NOT SAFE for them to cancel their manouver.

  B - NO FAULT - Car in front brakes suddenly, they had to break suddenly. Could have been bad if they didn't leave enough stopping distance between them and the car in front. But no harm no foul, now they should think twice about adding and extra car to that stopping distance in future.

  C - AT FAULT - Did not allow a SAFE DISTANCE between themselves and the car in front when the car in front - Car B - suddenly had to brake. Thus, they collided with the car in front.

  Car C caused damage and is at fault for that. Car A meanwhile if a cop was around likely should have (would have??) gotten at least some sort of fine unsafe driving/manouver fine. I'm not sure if they would be faulted for the damage caused by Car C. Because it is Car C's responsibility to make sure they have a safe stopping distance to any car in front. It very easily could have been Car A doing what it did, and Car B having crashed into Car A, with Car C narrowly missing a collision due to being able to brake just in time.

  • 

    banana365 on 09/02/2024 - 14:56

    it was likely NOT SAFE for them to cancel their manouver.

    There is no information on why A stopped. It's likely they decided it was unsafe to go forward. Every driving decision is a balance of risks. 'A' decided the risk of continuing was greater than that of stopping. There is no way of knowing, given the information provided, what influenced that decision but 'A' is most definitely not at fault for making it, nor for how close the vehicles behind them were.

    • 

      TiredKitty78 on 09/02/2024 - 15:05

      -2

      If you look again, you'll see i put car C as AT FAULT. Because they're technically the once who crashed into another car.
      Car A could/would have been 'Faulted' for not being aware of changing traffic conditions, since they didn't brake in time to not be over the line, AND to the point of being over the (iirc) pedestrian crossing to. Which is possibly it's own separate fine.

      Hey, you're possibly quite right. And in other similar situations it might be they decided split second it was not safe to stop - instead of it being safe to stop. Maybe from the sounds of it, they also just…decided to stop. And that may have been a worse choice in a different situation.

      I think in a different situation if car A had simply suddenly braked like OP mentioned and wound up over the line - and the pedestrian crossing - then they would get a fine and demerits - idk the laws that well. Aka, Car A did something wrong. But are they responsible for the cars behind them based on what they did - aka, at fault… - and thus responsible, nah, not really.

      So, Car C is AT FAULT.
      The only innocent driver here is probably Car B though….

      • 

        banana365 on 09/02/2024 - 16:51

        +1

        As you admit, there is information given as to why 'A' stopped, yet you've decided that they are at fault in some way (the other cars are totally irrelevant to this). Any reasoning you have to come to that conclusion is therefore imagined. Why? Why not just state "don't know enough to form an opinion"?

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  Hangryuman on 09/02/2024 - 15:53

  'Of course I have a MS Paint diagram'

  love it - I see real artistic flair there - nice use of colour !

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  Hangryuman on 09/02/2024 - 16:39

  -1

  A is at fault for failing to stop before the pedestrian crossing - it is typically an offense to fail to stop at an orange light, e.g. 'Rule 57 (2)(c) Not stop before intersection at yellow arrow … $464 3' (points) - https://www.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-10/demerits-…

  could be a ticket also for stopping on a pedestrian crossing - e.g. 'Rule 81 (1) Approach pedestrian crossing too quickly to stop safely 6 $464 3' (points - above link)

  B appears to be clear - they stopped and avoided hitting car A

  C appears to be at fault, for failing to stop and rear-ending car B - in the absence of dashcam evidence of the driver in front deliberately brake-checking as in many YouTube videos, prima facie car C is the main offender causing the crash for failure to maintain a safe distance behind the car in front to enable them to stop in time in an emergency - which is the point about safe following distances. And of course, if they were distracted, looking at their phone, more offense there.

  'Rule 126 Drive behind other vehicle too closely to stop safely 6 $464 3'
  and didn't find it in the list, but failing to drive with due care and attention.

  At my work one day I heard a loud bang and looked out my desk window to see a three-car crash - the middle car was my manager who had just driven out of our parking lot onto the main road - and had stopped in time when the car in front of them braked, but had then been whiplashed causing neck pain by the car behind who wasn't paying attention and slammed into them damaging three cars.

  And the wonder of it is that the offending driver who slammed into them from behind will often cry 'It's their fault - they stopped too quickly!' - D'Oh! You can't help stupid … ;-)

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  ECE on 09/02/2024 - 16:50

  All of the idiots are at fault 🤣

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  Sneeze on 09/02/2024 - 20:12

  If there was no contact between car A and B, then in the circumstances car A is not even a party to the accident.

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  TOKEN8 on 09/02/2024 - 22:47

  I had this as car B, after they reviewed the camera I received a fine in the mail for fail to maintain safe distance to car in front.
  Even though I managed to come to a complete stop, I was pushed into the motorcycle in front of me whent he car behind me hit me.

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  Antikythera on 10/02/2024 - 05:07

  +1

  title is incorrect. was not a three car accident.

  it was a two car rear-ender.

  driver behind at fault.

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