What is a Concertina Collision?

What is a Concertina Collision?

Cars make up 78 per cent of all traffic driven in Great Britain. Vehicle traffic levels increased by year on year which means there are more and more people on the road. We deal with a lot of accidents where more than 2 cars have been involved.

A concertina collision is a collision commonly involving three or more vehicles in which one vehicle shunts into another with such a force that the same vehicle is in turn forced into the one in front. In this situation if you are the vehicle in the middle or front you should not be at fault for this accident. In most situations the vehicle at the back will be found at fault as the stationary vehicle has been shunted forward into the other vehicle.

The most important thing is to always know how many shunts you felt as this will determine who was at fault for the accident and whom you are entitled to compensation from.

Concertina Collision are always most common on the motorway as all vehicle as travelling at high speeds and it can get very hard to come to a stop.

It is always important to see if anyone has witnessed the accident if so always make sure you obtain their details which includes;

• Name
• Address
• Contact Number

These details are always important to obtain so you can get in contact with the witness and get their version of event.

It is always best to contact the police and report the incident. They will attend the scene of the accident if necessary and they will provide you with a log number whether they attend the scene or not. You will then need to give the police details to your insurance if you need to obtain a police report if it is ever needed.

The incident should always be reported to your insurance with 48 hours and give them as much as detail you can give.

We have recently settled an accident claim where there were 6 cars involved in a multiple vehicle pile up on the motorway. Our client was one of the middle vehicles and he did not know who had actually caused the accident. All he knew was that he had been hit in the rear. We were able to recover damages from the end vehicle who it was shown to have caused the accident.  We obtained witness statements and a copy of the police report to ascertain this.

If you have been involved in a concertina collision then contact one of Team today.

Kashif Aksar

Paralegal