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Who Struck First?

Here is another accident scenario for your consideration.  It is a three car rear-end collision.  There is no question that #1 rear-ended #2.  The question is whether #2 rear-ended #3 before #1 struck #2 or did #1, in rear-ending #2, push #2 into #3, or did both occur?

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In our diagram, #3 vehicle is a 2013 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, #2, a 2006 BMW 525, and #1, a 1999 Cadillac DeVille.  The accident happened on an interstate at 6:30 in the morning in heavy, stop and go, rush hour traffic.  The pickup slammed on the brakes and swerved to the shoulder to miss the car in front of it, which it did.  The BMW claims they did the same thing and was able to stop but the Cadillac was unable to avoid striking the BMW, pushing it into the pickup.  The Cadillac says they saw the BMW hit the pickup first, before being struck in the rear by the Cadillac.

The police report includes this description:

Driver of vehicle #1 states he was traveling westbound on interstate 10 in the left lane, at which time traffic in front of him came to an abrupt stop.  Vehicle # 1 struck vehicle # 2 in the rear.

Driver of vehicle # 2 states he was traveling westbound on interstate 10 in the left lane.  The traffic in front of him came to a stop, at which time vehicle # 1 struck vehicle # 2 in the rear and pushed vehicle # 2 in the rear of vehicle # 3.

Driver of vehicle # 3 stated she was traveling westbound on interstate 10 in the left lane.  The traffic in front of her came to an abrupt stop.  Driver of vehicle # 3 swerved in her land to avoid the vehicle in front of her.  At that time, vehicle # 2 struck vehicle # 3 in the rear.

Vehicle # 1 and # 3 sustained minor to no damage.  Vehicle # 2 sustained moderate damage to the front of his vehicle.  None of the drivers or passengers in the vehicle sustained any injuries.

Driver of vehicle # 1 was cited for following too close.

Only the Cadillac driver was factored for following too closely and received a citation.  Neither of the other two drivers were factored or cited.
In the pickup driver’s statement to the BMW carrier, she said:

Q:  How many separate impacts did you feel?
A:  I think just two.

Q:  So, do you think that the vehicle directly behind you, the BMW, rear-ended you first and then was pushed into you a second time or was it kind of all simultaneously?
A:  I think it was all kind of simultaneously.  I mean I felt when the car behind rear-ended me, but they…they hit my trailer hitch.  So, like I said, it didn’t do any damage to my vehicle.

Q.  Okay.  Because that will make a difference.  And if…if you don’t remember, it’s fine.  Just say you don’t know.  Umm, I just want to make sure that I’m clear on what I’m asking.  So, it’s…the BMW rear-ended you and then they were rear-ended and pushed back into you a second time?  That’s usually…you would feel two separate impacts, one right after the other?
A:  Yes.  Yes.

Q:  And then, but if they were…if they were rear-ended and then pushed, it’s usually just one unless there was like a minor bump kind of second.  Does that make sense?
A:  I guess umm, kind of.

Q:  Okay.  So, you’re not sure of the sequence?
A:  No.

Q:  Okay.
A:  I mean it just all…it happened so fast.  I mean I’m pretty sure that there was two different movements.  Like I remember like being pushed forward twice, maybe more, but I’m not really for sure, for sure.

Q:  Okay.  Okay.
A:  And to be honest with you, as soon as I got hit, I didn’t even look behind me.  I just like went straight to get off the road.
The Cadillac driver's statement to his carrier included these questions and answers:

Q:  In your own words, tell me what happened.
A:  I was driving to work, I…and what, and what happ...in my vision, I saw the car in front of me slam on their brakes.  I slammed on my brakes and I slid into the back of their car.  The car in front of me had…went right into the truck and there was an accident behind me that I was not involved in.

Q:  Okay, the veh…the vehicle in front you, do you know what kind of vehicle it was?
A:  A BMW.

Q:  Okay…and to the best of your knowledge, that BMW hit the vehicle in front of it before you hit the back of the BMW?
A:  To the best of my knowledge, yes.

Q:  After the accident happened, did you talk with the driver of the truck or the BMW?
A:  I talked to both of the guys...the guy from the BMW at first I wa…I was, I needed to get to work so when I look, looked at his car and looked at the front my car, you really couldn’t tell anything had hap…had happened and when I talked to him I was like ‘I need to go to work, are we cool here?’  And I was under the assumption that we were…everything was good and then I started to leave and I noticed him take a picture of my license plate so I stopped and got back out and he, he didn’t think it was a good idea for me to leave so I stayed.

Q:  Okay umm, as ya’ll were talking, did ya’ll discuss the facts of the accident?
A:  No sir.

Q:  Now, when the police go there, did they talk to you as well as the other drivers involved?
A:  Talked to all of us…uhh…individually umm, asked me what happened.  I’m assuming that’s what she did with, with them.  But I, other than that, that was all the talk.

Q:  Did they issue any uhh, citations that you’re aware?
A:  I got a…
Q:  …of?
A:  I got a ticket for following closely.

Q:  Do you know, did they issue any other tickets?
A:  I don’t, I mean I don’t know personally but I…I would…I would assume.
The BMW's driver's statement to the Cadillac carrier included this segment:

Q:  Okay, uh, Chris, what lane were you traveling in?
A:  The left.

Q:  Okay.  All right in your…in your own words, just kinda’ set the stage for me, tell me what happened.
A:  Well, we were uhh, everyone was heading uhh, even though I was in the left lane which is the passin’, we were all…three lanes seemed to be going about the same miles per hour.  Umm, everybody was stayin’ pretty steady.  Uhh, nobody was speed.  Uhh, the guy behind me wa…couldn’t of speeded and the guy in front of me couldn’t of ‘cause it was pretty…traffic wasn’t exactly bumper to bumper but it was, it was uhh, it was a pretty busy morning.  Uhh, all of a sudden, everything in front of me, all the people stopped abruptly, so I, I stopped, I didn’t, I didn’t have to slam on my brakes, meaning I didn’t have to (inaudible) didn’t kick in or anything but I came to a stop and I stopped probably three feet from the, the truck in front of me and then I immediately looked in the rearview mirror after I came to a stop and then I saw lights, and then no lights and then I felt the hit and when he hit me it pushed me into the truck in front of me and uhh, that, that was I mean, I, I’d love to give you more information but that was really about it.  Umm, uhh, I can say that the main reason that the most damage was done is because the person in front of me in the truck has a receiver hitch and in the receiver hitch they left that, the re…the hitch with the ball, it actually had at least two balls on it, the top one and one on the side and that’s actually what went through my gr…that hit my hood first and then went through my grill.  ‘Cause had he not had all that on his truck it wouldn’t a done near as much damage.

Q:  Okay.  Umm, so the, the vehicle in front of you came to a stop and you had to come to a stop as well?
A:  Yes.

Q:  Okay and uhh, you stated you were able to actually come to a complete stop uhh before…
A:  Yes.
Finally, here are the photos of the BMW damage.  No photos of the pickup or the Cadillac were provided.

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You've read the contentions, which we've summarized, and reviewed the evidence.
The BMW filed arbitration against the Cadillac for all of their damages.
What is your decision?

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