I’m Griff Tonkin. I’m a partner here at the Arthofer & Tonkin Law Offices. We’re a personal injury law firm. That means we only help people who’ve been injured through the fault and negligence of others. Today I want to talk to you about complex accidents. We can use all sorts of make sense about two cars coming together in an intersection and having a dispute about who had the red light versus who had the green light. But not all accidents are like that. Some are very complicated. Vehicles move at really high speeds. We often take for granted just how fast you’re going when you’re on the freeway. And when you get multiple vehicles or different types of vehicles like commercial vehicles, big rigs, tractor-trailers, or motorcycles all tangled up at high speeds, the accidents, and the injuries can be devastating. Now when you’ve been involved in an accident with a complicated fact pattern, you need an excellent attorney who’s experienced in cases like yours to help you navigate these waters. One of the arguments you’re going to be faced with by all of the defendants, their insurance companies, and their lawyers is going to be like the childhood game of one, two, three, nod it.
They will be pointing their fingers at everyone else rapidly, and no one will take responsibility. When this happens, there’s only one person left holding the bag, and that’s you. That’s when you need one of the attorneys at Arthofer & Tonkin who are set up to help folks like you. Here’s the argument you’re going to be faced with. It comes right from our civil jury instructions here in California. It’s about a substantial factor. So one vehicle and one driver don’t have to be the only cause of an accident. Several drivers can combine to be substantial factors in the accident.
Let me tell you about a case that illustrates this point. Our client was driving in heavy traffic. She was commuting to work. Traffic slowed in front of her, and she was driving cautiously. She had plenty of room between her and the vehicle in front of her. She applied her brakes. As she did, the vehicle behind her was totally unprepared for the slowing traffic. That vehicle swerved into the right lane, pulled past our client, and then tried to cut back over because the traffic in the right lane was moving even slower. This person, this driver, did cut back over and cut our client off. Due to her excellent driving skills and defensive driving techniques, she could bring her vehicle to a stop even though her stopping distance had been shortened by the truck in front of her.
Well, as our client stopped in this high traffic, dangerous situation, another vehicle behind her, a large truck, a large work truck, took no notice of the stopping vehicles and obliterated the rear of her vehicle, pushing her forward into that truck that had just moments before cut her off. The insurance company for the truck that cut her off and the insurance company that hit her from behind blamed the other driver and the other truck. Who was left holding the bag for extensive medical bills and lost wages? Our client. Fortunately, she called our office. We were able to work up the accident sequence, use appropriate experts and walk hand-in-hand through our client, showing how this accident was actually the fault of both other drivers. Both drivers were a substantial factor in causing our client’s injuries and damages.
We’d like to talk to you about your accident. So if you’ve been involved in an accident or injured by someone else’s fault, please call us today. Our consultations are free.
