Gold Coast & Brisbane Personal Injury Lawyers explain liability in Rear-ender car accidents. No Win No Fee Lawyers offering motor accident claim services to Qld.
There are all sorts of car accidents. There’s the T-boned accident, head on collision, fender bender, side-swipe, and of course, the most common of all, the rear-end motor vehicle accident or “rear-ender” as it is often referred to.
Rear-end collisions are the bane of motor vehicle CTP insurers because they commonly occur and inevitably result in injury. Most commonly injuries sustained in rear-ender accidents include spinal injuries such as whiplash injuries to the neck and back, head injuries and strain injuries to the shoulders and upper limbs and chest injuries. Injuries that can have long term impact on their sufferers. And high impact rear-ender accidents can result in catastrophic injury and fatality.
More Than One Party May be at Fault in a Rear-end Motor Vehicle Accident
There is a common perception that the driver of the following vehicle in a rear-end accident is always 100% at fault, because they were not keeping a proper lookout or following too close. The law says (s.126 of the Queensland Road Rules) that a driver should always follow the vehicle in front at a safe distance. This means, leaving sufficient room within which to pull up, should the leading vehicle come to an unexpected and sudden stop.
Because of this perception, those following drivers who suffer injuries from a rear-end accident often believe they don’t have a right to bring a motor accident claim to recover injury compensation or car repair costs, when in fact they do.
The Following Driver May Not Be the Only Party Contributing to the Accident Occurring
Whereas, it is usual for the driver of the following motor vehicle in a rear-end accident to be held responsible for the accident for failing to follow at a safe distance or not keeping a proper lookout, it is not always the case. Where there is another party whose wrongful or negligent actions, or lack of action, have contributed to the collision occurring, then there will be an apportionment of liability between the culpable parties.
For example, a car is following another motor vehicle along the main highway when suddenly a truck pulls out from a side street in front of the leading vehicle when it is not safe to do so. To avoid a collision, the leading vehicle urgently throws on its brakes without warning. The driver of the car following reacts and does the same, but doesn’t stop in time, colliding into the rear of the leading motor vehicle. In such case, both the truck driver who negligently pulled out into oncoming traffic when it was not safe to do so and the driver of the car following who was not keeping a safe distance from the car in front, share responsibility for the accident occurring.
Determining what each of the culpable drivers’ responsibility is for the accident is termed, “apportionment of liability”. In the example provided above, a Court may find that both the truck driver and driver of the car following share equal responsibility and apportion liability at 50/50.
The Driver of the Leading Vehicle Can Share Fault
In some cases, the driver of the leading vehicle will share responsibility for the accident. Some instances where this may occur are:
- a driver reverses suddenly;
- a driver stops suddenly to make a turn and fails to execute the turn;
- a driver’s brake lights do not function, and
- a driver gets a flat tyre or breaks down, but doesn’t pull over and does not engage the vehicle’s hazard lights.
In each of these instances, it’s likely the driver of the car that’s rear-ended would be considered negligent. Liability apportioned for that driver’s negligence will be dependent on how much that driver’s negligence contributed to the car accident occurring.
In the Queensland Supreme Court decision of Habig v McCrae & Ors [2013] QSC 335, a truck driver rear ended a vehicle that was broken down and sitting stationary on the highway. The vehicle had not been pushed off the roadway out of harms way, and despite it being 10pm at night, the vehicle’s headlights or hazard lights were not lit. Mr Habig was sitting in the vehicle when the truck hit the rear side of the vehicle, propelling it off the roadway. Mr Habig sustained a serious head injury as a consequence and was suing for damages on grounds of the truck driver’s negligence.
The Court held that had the truck driver been keeping a proper lookout of the road ahead of him, he would have most likely seen the stationary vehicle in sufficient time to avoid colliding with it. However, the Court also considered that Mr Habig contributed to the accident because he had made no attempt to warn other drivers on the highway of the hazard ahead of them, the vehicle was unlit and the broken down vehicle should have been pushed off the roadway. Liability was apportioned at 50/50 between the truck driver and Mr Habig.
Don’t Automatically Assume You Don’t Have a Right to a Motor Accident Claim & Injury Compensation
So, if you have rear-ended a motor vehicle travelling in front of you on the highway and have sustained injury, don’t automatically assume that you don’t have a motor accident claim to pursue. It may be the case that there are other parties’ whose negligent actions have contributed to the accident occurring. If so, then you will have entitlement to a motor accident claim to recover compensation for your injuries and vehicle damage caused by that negligent party.
And you should be aware that other contributing parties need not be other drivers on the roadway. It could be the negligent actions of a road authority for creating a road hazard from roadworks or poorly constructed, designed or signed roadway that has contributed to the accident occurring.
No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers Can Advise Whether You’ve A Motor Accident Claim
If you’ve sustained injury in a car accident, you need to contact us at No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers. We are experts in motor accident claims and can advise you as to whether you have a claim to pursue. You can contact us by calling 1300 388 383 or Chat with us online on our website or on your mobile. You can also submit your enquiry via one of our FREE Instant Case Appraisal forms on our website.
All enquiries are 100% FREE of charge, totally confidential and without any obligation. We are available to take your enquiry 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It will only take a few minutes of your time and it will cost you nothing at all. So you really do have nothing to lose in contacting us today.
We are No Win No Fee Personal Lawyers, and like our name says, if we don’t win your case for you, then you pay us nothing at all. There are no upfront costs and you don’t pay us anything until you receive your compensation, and only if you receive compensation.
No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers are based in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast at Surfers Paradise, but we offer our services throughout Queensland.
No Win No Fee Personal Injury Lawyers Warn Time Limits Apply to Motor Accident Claims in Qld
Time limits apply to motor accident claims in Queensland, so it is very important that you don’t delay investigating whether you’ve a claim to pursue. Delay could mean missing out on your entitlement to significant compensation.