Car Accidents Involving Brake Checking
Many drivers are in a hurry to reach their destination. As a result, people may increase their speed and engage in other unsafe driving practices, such as tailgating. Tailgating can be extremely frustrating, but it is important that other drivers respond appropriately, rather than resorting to their own dangerous practices, like brake checking.
Brake checking frequently leads to car accidents, which can result in personal injuries and financial losses. Individuals in Salt Lake City, UT, Provo, UT, and surrounding areas who have been injured in brake checking car accidents can work with car accident lawyer Lynn C. Harris to establish accident liability and go after responsible parties for accident damages.
What Is Brake Checking?
Brake checking describes the act of suddenly applying firm pressure to the brakes when there is no obstacle in front of the vehicle. Drivers may engage in brake checking as a way to warn off or intimidate drivers who are following too closely behind them. Although it is understandably bothersome to have another vehicle tailgating your own, brake checking is never recommended, as it significantly increases the risk of a car accident.
Is Brake Checking Illegal?
Many states have laws that specifically outlaw brake checking. Even in states where it is not explicitly illegal to brake check, brake checking is considered a form of reckless driving, which is illegal.
Instead of brake checking, drivers should consider safer ways to get away from tailgating vehicles. Ideally, drivers should maintain their speed until it is safe for them to switch lanes. If a vehicle continues to follow or tailgate them, drivers should exit the road and change their route of travel to get away from the tailgating vehicle.
Brake Checking and Car Accident Liability
When brake checking leads to a car accident, it most commonly results in a rear end collision. The driver who slams on their brakes does not leave time for other drivers to react, so they are likely to run into the back of their car. In most rear end car accidents, the trailing driver is found liable for the collision. However, when a rear end collision involves brake checking, the leading driver (or the one who brake checks) may be found partially or fully liable for the accident and resulting damages.
Proving Brake Checking
When a driver practices brake checking that results in a car accident, they are likely to deny liability, and probably won’t admit that they applied their brakes. Lynn C. Harris works alongside experts in the field to gather evidence and demonstrate liability so that his Salt Lake City clients can be justly compensated for accident losses. To prove that a driver practiced unsafe brake checking we may rely on several different types of evidence, including:
- Photos of road conditions (i.e. skid marks)
- Photos of accident damages
- Video of the accident
- Witness testimony
- Data from a vehicle’s Event Data Recorder (EDR)
Compensation for Accident Damages
If a driver is found liable for a car accident, they are responsible for compensating injury victims for the physical, emotional, and financial damages of the collision. Potential areas of damage include:
- Medical expenses
- Cost of ongoing care and treatment
- Pain and suffering
- Lost wages and/or loss of wage earning potential
Contact Our Law Firm
If you have been injured in a car accident that was caused by brake checking, lawyer Lynn C. Harris can help you hold liable parties accountable for damages. To discuss the details of your case and consider your best course of legal action, send us a message online, or call our law firm at (801) 521-3200.
