Head-On Collisions: How To Determine Who’s Responsible For The Crash

There is a possibility that you or someone close to you gets involved in a collision.

Head-on collisions happen when the front-ends of two vehicles collide.

The cause of the crash can be complex, for example, the one caused by pedestrians or traffic jams which might lead to chains of different vehicles colliding with each other. And can be challenging to find out the person at fault.

Or we can trace the obvious one where a driver runs into an incoming vehicle or drives the wrong way in traffic to negligence. In these cases, assumptions will not help to find out who hit who but proper investigation.  

It is crucial to discover who is responsible for the collision because the person might be liable for injury, and there are ways to determine the cause. Below are ways that can help to figure out who is responsible.

Report To The Police

The first action you should take after an accident is to report to the nearest police department. The drivers or passengers involved can do this. The driver should be able to make a timely report of the incident. 

A better way is for the police to be at the accident scene if they cannot move the vehicle from the location. The police will investigate to discover the cause of the accident. They do this by observing the cars involved, the point of impact, the road condition, and the vehicle’s location after the crash. 

During this process, the police will question drivers or passengers to gather details of the event. They will also inspect to find out if any of the drivers broke traffic laws, under the influence of alcohol or if one of the drivers switched lanes wrongly. The information they gathered will provide them with relevant details of the event, which would direct their judgment about who is responsible for the crash.

Identify Eye Witnesses

It is crucial to identify witnesses at the scene. Get information from them about the location immediately and also get their contacts so you can reach out to them when necessary. The information you get from them should be as soon as possible to get accurate information because humans’ memories are not perfect. 

Most times, the information you get from witnesses is correct, especially when they are not involved in the accident or have a personal interest. You can get information from the passengers involved in the accidents as well. But it would help if you gathered from the parties that are not concerned to avoid bias.

Statements from witnesses should be recorded and even reported to the police because it can help in case the matter gets to court, and it also informs lawyers of how the case will play out in court. 

Take Photos Of The Scene

Photos of the scene could serve as evidence for who is at fault. It is good to take pictures of the interior and exterior parts of the cars involved in the accident. Take distance and close photos of the vehicles at the point of impact. Make sure you take as many pictures of incidents as possible and ensure they are transparent enough to provide different details. The combination of the photos will come in handy when a car accident reconstruction expert gets involved. 

It is not enough to capture only the vehicles but the surroundings of the incident. Capture street signs and traffic lights. Other things you can capture are:

• The road surface.
• Vehicle fluids on the ground.
• Objects on the road.
• The road condition.
• Lane markings.

All these photos can give a clue of who did the hitting. 

Other things to be captured are injuries. Take photos of everyone that was injured and any part of the body that was damaged. The details retrieved from the pictures will be a guide, although it cannot be the only evidence available but will contribute to finding out who is responsible for the accident.

Examine Your injuries

Asides from taking pictures of injuries, everyone involved in the accident should visit the hospital and have the doctor examine them. The head-on collision truck accident attorney in Los Angeles explains that you have the right to be compensated for injuries or losses if you were involved in a Los Angeles head-on truck collision. 

The fact that you do not have an external injury does not mean that doctors should not check you because you might be injured and you will not feel it, and it is possible to have an injury that will surface later. Doctors would note your damage, and the report could serve as evidence to determine who is at fault in the accident.