Got a $400 bill after a fender bender in Santa Ana that I thought was my fault

Last month I rear ended someone at a stoplight on the 55 freeway off ramp in Santa Ana. I was sure I was at fault because I hit them from behind. I filed a claim and paid my $500 deductible to get my car fixed. Then I found out the guy in front of me had a busted brake light and had slammed on his brakes for no reason. Turns out California law says if someone brakes suddenly without cause they can share fault. My insurance never even told me this was an option to fight it. Has anyone else dealt with a rear end case where the other driver got partial blame?

2 comments

2 Comments

scott.drew26d ago

Yeah "sudden braking without cause" is a real thing out here. I had a similar case in Irvine where the guy's brake lights were totally dead and my adjuster admitted they would have split fault if I'd pushed it. Insurance companies rarely volunteer that info, they hope you just pay up.

jake63826d ago

That's a good point @scott.drew, but I think adjusters are actually trained to look for those things first and they usually do catch dead brake lights on their own. Your mileage may vary though, some shops don't check everything.

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