If Someone Brake Checks You, Who Is At Fault?
July 24, 2024
Florida is well-known as a place where aggressive driving prevails. If you spend any time on the roads here, you’re bound to witness all kinds of reckless behavior. Speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, and brake checks are just a few of these types of behaviors.
Brake-checking is particularly problematic because it can lead to serious accidents. An aggressive driver may pull a brake check to scare you or if they feel you’re following them too closely. Brake-checking accidents often arise when there is a tailgating driver, and it’s usually the driver at the rear end that gets the blame.
Lewis & Castagliola, P.A. is a personal injury law firm that provides legal representation and advice for brake check incidents. In this article, we provide insight into your rights after a brake check incident and what steps to take if you find yourself in this situation.
What Is Brake-Checking?
Brake-checking is the act of a lead driver hitting their brakes suddenly and without any legitimate reason, causing the trailing driver to hit them. When a driver engages in brake checking, it’s no joke. Many younger drivers in their teens often wind up in brake check accidents while playing around with friends.
Other times, drivers perform a brake check on strangers out of road rage. Some do it to commit insurance fraud and collect insurance claims or to file a personal injury lawsuit against the rear driver. No matter the reason why, when a brake check accident occurs, it can be a major headache for you as the rear driver. You will be held responsible for a rear-end crash unless you can prove that the other driver was engaging in brake-checking.
In Florida, Is Brake-Checking Illegal?
Brake checks are not legal in the state of Florida and are put into the same category as road rage behaviors. It does not matter if the person conducting the brake check was joking or was trying to get revenge on another driver. If you get into a brake check accident, you have the right to seek compensation for the injuries and damages they caused you to sustain.
However, brake-checking can be challenging to prove, which is why it’s wise to hire an experienced car accident attorney to represent you.
How Is Fault Determined in Brake-Checking Accidents?
If someone brake-checks you, who is at fault? In most rear-end collisions, it is the tailgating driver, or the rear driver, who is held responsible for rear-end crashes.
Certainly, it stands to reason that if someone rear-ended another vehicle, they were likely following too closely. It’s easier to prevent a car accident when you allow enough room between your vehicle and the leading one. Some people may hit their brakes for valid reasons, such as an animal running into the road or due to the sudden appearance of debris. Following at a safe distance ensures you won’t wind up in a car accident.
When someone is brake-checking to deliberately cause a crash, they could wind up getting more than they bargained for. A brake-checking accident can set off a chain reaction where three or more vehicles crash into the vehicle in front of them.
While brake checking tends to create fender-bender accidents, this form of reckless driving can lead to serious injuries. Fault in a brake check collision can easily be pinned on you since you crashed into the lead driver. Your car accident attorney will know how to prove fault in this situation.
Proving aggressive driving like brake checking requires the right evidence. Just as in other car accidents, determining fault will require police reports, photos of the other driver’s vehicle, and witness statements. Once you can prove fault, you can hold the other driver liable.
It may also lead to criminal charges for the driver who slams on their brakes to cause a crash. They may face fines up to $1,000 along with serving 90 days in jail, plus driver’s license suspension. Points may be added to their license as well for committing this act.
If a driver is found to have intentionally hit their brakes to cause an accident, then there may be additional evidence that can prove their fault. It’s hard for them to argue that they aren’t at fault for totaling your car when the state convicts them of aggressive driving charges.
Understanding Comparative Negligence Laws in Florida and How They Apply to Brake Checking
In the last year, Florida changed to a modified comparative negligence rule that may make you partially responsible for an accident caused by a brake-checking driver. If you are assigned some of the blame for speeding or following too closely, it could reduce your compensation.
Sometimes, these rules are unfair because they can fault you partially for an accident the other party caused. This is why all drivers are encouraged to watch how close they are to the vehicle in front of them—it could easily lead to being held liable. You must explore your legal options with a lawyer who can show that the other driver was brake-checking and is responsible for your personal injury.
Steps to Take After Getting Into a Brake Check Accident
If you get into an accident because of brake checking, you must take the right steps to protect your legal rights. You should also take measures to protect your own safety.
Staying Safe in a Brake-Checking Scenario
Ultimately, you’ll want to avoid getting into a brake check accident. Some people engage in aggressive driving or reckless driving for reasons that are completely unrelated to other drivers. If someone is exhibiting the signs of road rage, you must avoid confrontation and think of your own safety as well as the safety of any passengers in your vehicle.
Brake check incidents can lead to frightening altercations. If you are being brake-checked, try to change lanes to stay away from this driver. However, this could encourage the driver to retaliate in other ways. Call the police when someone is brake checking and trying to threaten you by shouting or making obscene hand gestures.
If an accident does occur, they will have your call on record to document the other driver’s negligence. The police will arrive and file their report on your accident, which can also be submitted as evidence for proving fault in the collision. Generally, if the police discover that the other driver behaved in an aggressive way to cause this event, they may arrest them, which gives you another piece of evidence showing they were the ones at fault.
Get Medical Treatment
To recover compensation for an accident involving brake checking, you must show that you suffered injuries due to the collision. A claim for a personal injury requires that you were hurt in some way. You may have facial injuries from the airbag deploying, broken bones, whiplash, or even internal injuries.
Even though a brake-checking collision could be at a low speed, never assume that you are not injured. Make sure you are checked by medical professionals to be on the safe side. This will also document any injuries you have that the at-fault driver will be liable for covering.
Do Your Best to Get Evidence
Determining fault for brake testing can only happen through evidence. You may have dash cam footage of the other driver behaving erratically and aggressively that can be used. There may be surveillance footage from nearby businesses or traffic cameras that have captured the actions of this driver before the accident.
You can take photos and videos after the crash and get witness statements. Other drivers may have seen how recklessly this driver behaved by hitting their brakes, which can help in showing they are at fault. Additionally, take note of the condition of the weather and the roads at this time as they may have played a role in making it impossible for you to stop your car in time.
Always Consult a Lawyer for This Type of Accident
When a driver crashes into the vehicle in front of them, the result will almost always be that they are the one at fault for the accident. It will take strong litigation skills to prove that you were not the one at fault for a car in front of you hitting the brakes as an act of aggression or for the thrill of it.
If you’ve endured injuries as a result, you should not be blamed for something that you did not do. Most attorneys provide a free consultation that you can use to discuss your accident and determine the best way to proceed.
How Car Accident Lawyers Help Victims in Brake Check Accidents
Sometimes, you can try to change lanes to get away from drivers who hit the brakes to cause an accident. Other times, nothing you do can avoid the outcome. When another driver conducts themselves in this type of menacing way, it’s time to get the legal representation you need to prove they were at fault.
When you speak with an attorney, they will want you to recall everything you can remember about this incident. Even minor details may prove helpful in your case, such as what this car was doing before the crash.
Engaging a lawyer during the accident claims process is best as they can negotiate with the insurer from the start. Many drivers try to handle this on their own only to say something that unintentionally is used to pin fault on themselves. It makes a difficult situation even more challenging without the help of legal counsel.
If you want to have the chance to get the maximum compensation you deserve from this accident, then choose an attorney who has experience in representing this type of accident. They will be more adept at showing that brakes were applied maliciously to cause a crash. You can contact Lewis & Castagliola, P.A. to get accident representation.
