After a car accident, you may be asked, "what happened?" over and over again. The answer to that question will determine the course of what occurs next. In some cases, it's obvious who caused the accident. In other cases, more investigating must be done. Read on and find out more.

The Cause Is Important 

In most cases, the actions of one driver are to blame. However, there are numerous other scenarios that might be considered:

• You and the other driver are both to blame for the accident. For instance, you both failed to yield the right-of-way and hit each other.
• Chain reaction accidents can be confusing. When one vehicle causes your vehicle to strike another, the cause must be traced to the initial vehicle that started everything.
• Some accidents are caused by mechanical defects in a vehicle. The fault may lie with the manufacturer of the vehicle or the parts.

When a driver causes an accident, they and their insurer are 100% responsible for paying the damages to the other driver. Determining blame in a two-car accident should be simple but sometimes, it's not.

Investigating Your Accident

Victims and others involved in a car accident don't need to play detectives to figure out who is at fault. Your insurance company and your personal injury lawyer use their experience and expert support to investigate how your accident occurred. The other driver's insurer will also be performing some investigations at the same time. This issue must be resolved before the case can move on. You can expect your lawyer to do the following things to find out what happened when the accident occurred:

• Obtain the police accident report. This report contains a lot of valuable information about the accident but most importantly, it also contains the responding officer's conclusion about how the accident happened. While this report is not always admissible in court, it is highly respected.
• Obtain statements from eyewitnesses to the accident. Preferably, the witnesses should not be related to anyone in the accident, and they should be able to provide an account of the accident from several viewpoints.
• Observe photographs from the accident scene which can show the location of damage to the vehicles, roadside signs, and the like.

In many cases, fault is determined quickly, and the case is settled. However, some cases may go to court first. Speak to your car accident lawyer to find out more.