The Shoulder
The Shoulder
55
Car accidentsclear-finch-850

Got rear-ended AFTER a hit-and-run left me stuck — now the second driver is hinting at suing me??

Still processing all of this because it happened pretty fast and I'm honestly shaken up.

Last week someone ran a red light and T-boned me hard enough to deploy my airbags and leave my car completely undriveable. The other driver took off — didn't stop, didn't slow down, just gone. I called 911 immediately and turned on my hazards. My car was partially blocking the lane because I physically could not move it — fluids everywhere, front end destroyed.

While I'm standing on the shoulder waiting for police, a truck comes around a curve and plows straight into the back of my disabled car. The driver wasn't seriously hurt from what I could tell — he was conscious and walking around — but he was pretty agitated and kept asking why my car was just sitting there in the road.

Here's where my anxiety is spiking: his passenger said something like "you know we could go after you for this" before the police arrived.

I did everything I thought was right — called 911 right away, turned on hazards, got myself off the road. I didn't choose to be stuck there. But now I'm worried I could somehow be held liable for the second collision even though I was the original victim of a hit-and-run.

A few things I'm unsure about:

  • Does my insurance cover me if the second driver files a claim against me?
  • Could the hit-and-run driver bear any responsibility for the chain reaction they caused?
  • Is there anything I should or shouldn't be saying to either insurance company right now?

I have a police report from both incidents (they wrote them up separately). Any experience with something like this? I feel like I did nothing wrong but I'm suddenly scared I'm going to be the one paying for everyone.

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9 replies

  • 20
    calm-swan-290

    Please be really careful about what you say to ANY insurance adjuster right now — including your own. They have a way of asking questions that seem casual but are actually designed to get you to say something that implies fault. Stick to the basic facts: your car was disabled by another driver, you called 911, you turned on your hazards. That's it. Don't speculate, don't apologize, don't fill in silence with extra details.

  • 18
    gentle-marmot-937

    Worked in auto claims for years. Here's the honest reality: the second driver's insurance or the second driver himself may try to point fingers at you because the original hit-and-run driver is gone and you're the easy target. It's frustrating but it happens. What protects you is the police report timeline showing you had hazards on and called for help immediately. If you have any dash cam footage or bystander video, preserve it right now — don't wait.

  • 16
    mellow-dove-261

    A couple of practical things:

    1. Get copies of both police reports as soon as they're available — not just the incident numbers, the actual reports. Read them carefully for any errors in how the facts are described. 2. Write down a detailed personal account of the whole sequence tonight — times, what you did, what you saw — and save it somewhere safe. Memory fades fast. 3. If the second driver does file any kind of claim against you, your insurance company is obligated to defend you. That's literally what liability coverage is for. You're not alone in this.

    • 12
      bright-dove-114

      One thing I'm wondering — was there any kind of warning signage possible, or were you on a curve/blind spot where the second driver might argue visibility was a factor? I'm not blaming you at all, just thinking about what they might try to argue. Also, did the police report specifically note that the car was disabled due to the first collision? Because that chain of events being documented officially is really your biggest protection here.

  • 14
    steady-otter-600

    Oh wow, this is almost exactly what happened to my cousin a couple years back. Someone sideswiped her and fled, left her stranded on the highway, and then a second car hit her from behind. She was SO stressed about liability but ultimately the hit-and-run driver (who was actually tracked down later through traffic cameras) ended up being on the hook for the whole chain of events. You activating your hazards and calling 911 immediately is huge — that shows you did everything right. Document everything you remember right now while it's fresh.

  • 14
    cool-owl-038

    The second guy's passenger running their mouth on scene doesn't mean anything legally. People say all kinds of stuff when they're scared and amped up. What matters is what's in the police report and what the evidence shows. You were an innocent party who got hit and was left stranded. Talk to a lawyer before you do anything else — most PI attorneys do free consults and this situation is exactly the kind of thing they deal with.

  • 8
    careful-hare-782

    Not legal advice, but generally speaking: the legal concept of 'intervening cause' is really relevant here. When a hit-and-run driver creates a dangerous situation that leads to a secondary collision, courts often look back at the original at-fault driver as the proximate cause of the whole chain of events. The fact that you took reasonable steps (hazards on, called 911, cleared yourself from the road) matters a lot. I'd seriously recommend at least a free consultation with a PI attorney before you say much more to either insurance company.

  • 8
    steady-seal-250

    Can I just ask — how are YOU doing physically? People get so caught up in the legal and insurance stuff (understandably) that they ignore their own bodies. Adrenaline after a crash can mask pain for 24-48 hours, sometimes longer. If you haven't been seen by a doctor yet, please go. Even if you feel okay. Having medical documentation from right after the accident is important for a lot of reasons, not just your health.

    • 2
      tired-dreamer195

      That lines up with what my adjuster told me too.