Fender Bender: How This Common Type of Car Crash Gives Drivers Legal Headaches

If you drive for many years without getting in any accidents, you’re lucky. That’s because, even if you’re a very safe driver, you might have a fender bender because of a reckless motorist. You may encounter a drunk driver or an individual who runs into your car during a road rage incident.

Traffic accidents increased 7% between 2019 and 2020, and in many years, you’ll see similar increases. If you get in an accident, maybe it’s something like a T-bone collision or a rollover situation. Those will often cause serious injuries or deaths, so if something like that occurs, you can feel fortunate if you walk away at all.

However, in this article, we’re going to talk about a more common type of car wreck, the fender bender. You might also hear some individuals call this a rear-end collision.

These crashes don’t often seem very serious, but they can give you more headaches as a driver than you could ever dream possible sometimes. We’ll explain why this happens in the following article.

What Does “Fender Bender” Mean?

The term fender bender or rear-end collision means when a driver taps the bumper of the car ahead of them. They might do so very lightly if they almost manage to stop entirely. They may also hit the bumper of a car ahead of them quite hard in some instances.

If that happens, then the driver in the vehicle on the receiving end might sustain injuries. If they do, then it’s frequently whiplash that occurs.

That’s because the head, neck, and torso of the driver on the receiving end of this kind of collision will all rock back and forth abruptly. They might do so violently if the car behind them strikes their rear bumper after building up some velocity beforehand.

How Fender Benders Become Trickier Than You Might Imagine

If a car hits another vehicle, then it’s probably easy enough to assume who caused the accident. The driver who didn’t stop in time and whose car struck another vehicle should logically get the blame in most instances.

However, in some cases, when there’s a fender bender accident, you might not have the same degree of clarity about who you should blame. For instance, maybe you have two cars on the highway. A deer suddenly runs across the road.

The lead car’s driver slams on the brakes to avoid hitting the deer. The driver of the vehicle behind them can’t stop in time and runs into their rear bumper. Maybe they gave the lead car a significant jolt, and the driver of that vehicle reports pain in their neck and headaches afterward.

That’s most likely a whiplash situation, as a trip to the doctor will usually confirm. However, who caused the accident?

You could argue that the lead car did, since they stopped suddenly. They had little choice but to stop, though, or they could have hit the deer, seriously damaging their vehicle and injuring themselves much more severely.

The lead car’s driver might blame the rear car’s driver. They could say that the rear car’s driver should have kept more distance between the two vehicles. By staying at least three car lengths behind, they would have had the necessary time to stop if they saw the driver in front suddenly apply the brakes.

At-Fault and No-Fault States

You can see how this kind of a situation can enter complex legal territory quickly, even for a relatively minor fender bender. If neither driver claims responsibility for the accident, and you’re in a no-fault state, then it probably won’t much matter.

That’s because, in a no-fault state, the insurance company of each driver should pay for the damage to their vehicle. The policy should also cover medical bills and any lost wages if either party has to miss work for a while as they recover.

If you get in this type of accident in an at-fault state, though, you might have to battle it out with the other driver in court. If neither one of you will admit you caused the accident, then you will have to pay for your car repairs, medical bills, and other expenses out-of-pocket. You can probably only recoup that money by winning a successful lawsuit against the other driver.

That’s why, even if you don’t injure yourself very seriously in a fender bender, the real pain might start when you try to get someone to cover the damages that you feel you didn’t cause.