flatreader

‘Pretty stupid right?’: Expert reveals ‘dumb’ insurance rule that will make you liable if this happens to you at a red light

Insurance is a necessary evil. Designed to protect individuals from potential accidents, it ensures that any collision will have at least a minimum of coverage. Unfortunately, insurance companies have a lot of trick rules that can make simple coverage a nightmare.

Recently, a personal injury lawyer who goes by the TikTok handle Toronto Injury Lawyer (@torontoinjurylawyer) posted one insurance rule that takes the cake. Viewed over 173,000 times, the video drew commenters who shared tips on how to avoid issues with filing a claim later on.

What's the insurance rule?

Toronto Injury Lawyer posted a quick 13-second video explaining how someone who didn't cause a wreck could still be at fault when stopping at a red light. According to him, if you are "in the process of bringing your vehicle to a stop because a traffic light is red" but "some idiot comes and rear ends you, and the force of that impact causes you to hit a vehicle in front of you" then "your insurance is going to deem you 50 percent at fault."

Is this true?

According to Text Kevin Accident Attorneys, "When multiple vehicles collide in succession, determining fault becomes increasingly complicated. However, there are some general liability principles and assumptions that provide a starting framework for unraveling responsibility in multi-car chain reaction crashes."

The attorneys state that in California, "the trailing vehicles are generally presumed liable for not maintaining safe distance and reacting timely."

To avoid liability, "The middle vehicle in a 3-car rear-end collision must show they took swift evasive actions to avoid hitting the front car after being impacted."

"Their potential liability depends on evidence such as maintaining a safe following distance, efforts to decelerate, and leaving enough room for the rear car to stop."

Additionally, "The middle car’s degree of fault is determined by proof of the crash being unavoidable."

Some viewers claimed this was all a part of insurance

"Insurance is not there to help us. It’s only there to make a profit," a viewer said.

"That’s just half of it… depending on state laws," a second added.

Others claimed that this isn't true

"Not true. I’m an insurance adjuster. Rear vehicle takes 100%. True across all insurance companies. We have to all agree on the same rules," a viewer said.

"Just say you were in a full stop," another suggested.

"Get a dash cam so there is zero question about the accident facts. If you can prove you were pushed into the car ahead of you, you will be found zero at fault. I was an adjuster for 30 years," a third added.

"Not true. This happened to me at a stop light. I was the last in the chain of getting rear ended and the guys insurance who rear ended the car first paid for all 3 cars in the chain," a viewer shared.

@torontoinjurylawyer We love dumb insurance rules #lawyer #insurance #accident #attorney ♬ original sound - Toronto Injury Lawyer

Others said this is why you keep a safe distance

"No it's called following to close. you need to give yourself room to escape in a situation like this," a viewer said.

"Maybe we should stop more than 3 inches away from the vehicle in front of us…" a second quipped.

"That explains the people who leave a whole car space length at the stop light," another added.

"If you can’t see the tires of the car in front of you [when] stopped you are too close," a viewer advised.

The Daily Dot reached out to Toronto Injury Lawyer via TikTok comment.

Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

The post ‘Pretty stupid right?’: Expert reveals ‘dumb’ insurance rule that will make you liable if this happens to you at a red light appeared first on The Daily Dot.