In a car accident, is the last car always considered at fault?

Unfortunately, I must agree with the prior answer to your question. You must notify your insurance company and explain how the accident happened. From your question, it does not appear you your injured.

If you your hurt your policy does contain no-fault coverage to cover your medical bills and your lost earnings. Your insurance company will defend you against any claim being made due to this accident. If they feel

you were at fault they will offer a settlement to the other party.

Anthony J. Loscalzo

Loscalzo & Loscalzo, P.C.

www.loscalzolaw.com

Under New York law if you strike someone in the rear you will generally be found to be responsible unless you can prove that the car in front of you stopped abruptly or that your brakes failed. From your facts I don't believe either of these exceptions apply. I'm assuming that the 1st car did not stop abruptly, but stopped for some legitimate reason, e.g. heavy traffic on a holiday highway and cars in front of it stopped. Those following behind car 1, including yours, have  a legal duty not to follow so closely that they will strike the car in front if that car stops for whatever reason. On a highway its impossible to stop "abruptly" when a car is traveling at 70-80 mph. It takes time to go from 70 to 0. Generally an "abrupt" stop is the kind you may experience when following behind a car and the car in front stops short because a child or animal crossed in front of it unexpectedly.

However for purposes of any legal claim there are 2 factors to the analysis: 1- liability (or fault), and 2 - damages (physical injuries or property damage or both).

Assuming from your scenario that you may be found responsible for striking the car in front of yours (and I'm assuming that you did not push that car into car #2), from what you describe, there was no  or very minimal property damage to car #3 as a result of your hit. Thus any claim for property damages against you should be groundless, even if made will be impossible to prove.

That still leaves a claim for physical injuries. I think you can assume that a lawsuit will result from this accident. Again assuming that what you've reported is correct, even if the occupants of the car in front of you make a claim for physical injuries - commonly called "whiplash" - given that the force of your impact was relatively minor, any claims for physical injury will be difficult to prove. In NY, in order to make a claim for injuries resulting from a MVA there are strict requirements for a "serious injury". To summarize these, the injury must at the very least incapacitate the person for 3 months. Most people claiming "whiplash" generally don't wind up missing three months of work. Another definition of "serious injury" is that the injured person must have suffered a "significant limitation" of a body function or system. Again difficult to prove unless there is legitimate medical treatment over time and there were no pre-existing injuries.

You should of course report the accident to your insurance company if you havn't already done so.  Also beware of speaking to anyone on the phone or who knocks at your door unless they are the police or legitimate representatives of your insurance company. Frequently after an accident the insurance companies of the other involved cars contact all the drivers for statements about how the accident happened. You shouldn't speak with any of these. You are under no legal duty to speak with any one except the police and representatives of your own insurance company.

In the motor vehicle world, negligence is a breach of a duty of care that proximately results in damages to another.  When cars are travelling on the highway the general rule is maintain a reasonable travelling distance behind the car in front of you. you should also keep in mind the weather conditions.  in this case, car one appears to be responsible if it hit the brakes for no reason and stopped short.  however, if the car didn't stop short and the other car behind it was following too close (along with you and the other cars) then the car that stopped/slowed is not going to be at fault here and you as well as the other drivers travelling too closely will be at fault and will have to pay for the respective damages.  I suggest forward any claims made against you to your insurance carrier while at the same time filing a claim against the car that stopped short as you may be able to recover.