Brake Checking: Who Is Responsible in a Car Crash?

Understanding the rules of the road is incredibly important in keeping yourself and others safe while driving. Likewise, being able to keep a level head in the face of driving challenges is also incredibly important. It seems more and more as if people are getting increasingly violent and reckless on the road. From lane splitting to making unsafe turns, our roads can be very dangerous. Brake checking is another dangerous behavior that can stem from road rage and driving confusion. So, in the event of brake checking leading to a multi-car collision, who is responsible in a car crash? 

Viral Video: Seven Car Pileup 

In this viral clip, a dashcam captures a multi-car pileup caused by brake checking on the highway. 

The clip is from recent news coverage of a crash. It describes how a man driving a Tesla got in front of another car. In retaliation, that car quickly sped in front of the Tesla and began to brake check. The Tesla had to quickly slow down, causing himself and multiple cars behind him to crash into each other. The car that had been brake checking quickly fled the scene. 

The police did not pursue the car in front, as it didn’t physically contact any of the other cars involved. This leaves many to wonder about the rules around who is responsible in the event of a car crash. 

Attorney Ugo Lord’s Analysis 

If you weren’t 100% satisfied with the outcome of the crash video, don’t worry, you’re not alone. In the reaction video made by attorney Ugo Lord, he gave his professional opinion on who is responsible for a car crash such as the one in the video. 

Lord argues that both the car that brake checked and the car that physically started the crash are responsible. Crashes such as this fall under a “miss and run” status, which is usable in court. Thus, Lord advises that the other people involved could pursue action against the car that was driving recklessly in the first place. 

Miss and Runs: Who Is Responsible In a Car Crash?

In a miss-and-run accident, one person causes another (or multiple others) to crash. In contrast to hit and runs, the person responsible for a miss and run doesn’t actually make physical contact with any other cars. It can be especially hard to track down cars in a miss and run. The car responsible usually takes no damage and can easily slip back into the hustle and bustle of traffic. 

A few dangerous driving behaviors can cause miss-and-runs. Actions such as not paying attention on the road, swerving, and having inconsistent driving speeds can all cause others to crash around you. In the worst cases, they stem from road rage behavior. For example, in the video clip, brake checking done by the angry driver in front caused the initial crash. 

Multiple Cars in a Crash: Who is Responsible? 

Crashes involving more than two cars can be particularly hard to keep track of. The chain of events that caused them and the multiple people involved tend to complicate who is responsible for the car crash. There are even some lawyers and law groups who specially focus on litigating in the wake of these hectic incidents. 

Responsibility is determined by evaluating who hit who, and the factors that led to the crashes. Like in two car crashes, factors such as being distracted from the road, having improper driving equipment (such as missing brake lights), or displaying dangerous behavior, are evaluated. 

For example, if one man swerved and caused a second car to crash into him, he would be responsible for that damage. If a third car was on their phone and smashed into the second due to not paying attention, they too would be held responsible. 

As you can probably guess, these multiple-car crashes can quickly become arduous to keep track of. Most of the time, they result in multiple people having shared liability as a result of their actions. 

Summary

The road can be a very dangerous place. As shown in the video clip, some crashes are caused entirely by the reckless actions of others, This can make who is responsible for a car crash hard to deduce. In most cases, it involves ironing out who hit who, and what factors led to the crash. For multiple-car crashes, this often results in multiple individuals having a shared liability in the incident. In the video, both the driver who started the physical crash and the reckless driver are responsible. 

With that said, the best thing you can do to stay safe while driving is keep calm, keep awareness of your surroundings, and keep away from dangerous drivers,