Imagine this scenario: you are driving down a Texas freeway when you suddenly come upon a large pothole. Because you are traveling at a high speed (but under the posted speed limit), you are unable to stop. You drive directly into the pothole, causing your tire to pop and sending your car into the median.

But the car accident does not end there. Because the vehicle behind you is driving too closely, it crashes into the rear end of your car and causes additional damage. The force of the collision then sends that car into the other lane of traffic, where it sideswipes another vehicle. The driver of that third car was driving safely, but he had nowhere to go to avoid being struck by the second vehicle.

In this scenario, who is responsible for the accident?

Basically, liability for multi-vehicle accidents is decided based on the negligence of each party involved. In this example, you would likely not be liable unless another person could prove that you were driving negligently.

The second driver may be found negligent, because it was his act of driving too closely to you that caused him to crash both into you and into the third vehicle. Similarly, because the third driver was not driving negligently, he would probably also avoid liability.

In addition, the government or other agency tasked with maintaining streets may also be liable to all three drivers because of their negligence in failing to repair the pothole.

The actual damages that the drivers and the government are required to pay are decided upon a comparative negligence scale in which each party must pay for the percentage of damages that they caused.

Clearly, a multi-car pileup such as the example detailed above is a complicated situation. It may be in your best interest to contact an experienced Houston personal injury lawyer to discuss the accident and your options.

Source: FindLaw, "Who Pays After a Multi-Car Pileup?" Stephanie Rabiner, Dec. 5, 2011