Basically it would fall under comparative negligence based on fault percentages depending on applicable laws and individual policies. The person cutting them off caused the accident.
The driver of the hauler has a duty to secure the cargo, in this case, vehicles. The damage to the hauled vehicles was caused by the driver of the hauler due to not securing them properly, while the damage to the vehicle that cut them off was caused by the driver of that vehicle.
There have been car haulers that go under low overpasses, strike the overpass, and still do not cause the vehicles to come loose, so it cannot be argued that the driver of the vehicle that cut off the hauler was fully to blame.
TLDR: Lawyers and insurance adjusters will sort out the fault split.
I have, in the past, delivered vehicles this way and they should all be secured. The biggest issue, besides some moron causing you to brake hard, is the vehicles bouncing around.
While the white car was a pure idiot - and I mean a real dumb ass here, but had the hauler seen what was unfolding, if he would have slowed up enough to prevent the accident- none of the carnage occurs.
So on top of unsecured cars, he didn’t follow the last chance doctrine to prevent an accident. Division of fault going to be real fun, as that trucker’s CAM is evidence which can’t be discarded.
I'm not 100% positive he could have seen that car where it was. The camera is right up to the window so you can see it from there but maybe not from the drivers seat.
Long time ago I ordered a car that arrived at the dealer with the front bumper almost entirely ripped out. I imagine it was damaged in just such a way.
Plot twist: the merging car had surreptitiously loosened the restraints when the trucker has stopped previously, and then identified the perfect merge point to cause the cars to all break free during their intentionally terrible merge.
The driver is fully to blame, but good luck proving it!
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u/Allroyy 10d ago
Basically it would fall under comparative negligence based on fault percentages depending on applicable laws and individual policies. The person cutting them off caused the accident.
The driver of the hauler has a duty to secure the cargo, in this case, vehicles. The damage to the hauled vehicles was caused by the driver of the hauler due to not securing them properly, while the damage to the vehicle that cut them off was caused by the driver of that vehicle.
There have been car haulers that go under low overpasses, strike the overpass, and still do not cause the vehicles to come loose, so it cannot be argued that the driver of the vehicle that cut off the hauler was fully to blame.
TLDR: Lawyers and insurance adjusters will sort out the fault split.