Who Is at Fault in a Rear End Collision

Outside business and residence districts, a truck trailing another truck has to leave a gap that an overtaking car can safely enter. The same goes for any vehicle towing another. Caravans and motorcades carry a similar duty, though funeral processions are exempt. Since 2017, the statute has also excused trailing commercial trucks in an automated platoon, meaning rigs linked by cooperative adaptive cruise control.

Negligence per se means carelessness proven by breaking a safety statute that fits the situation. Fairchild restated that violating an applicable statute is negligence per se. Causation, meaning whether the violation actually produced the injury, usually goes to the jury. A causative violation can also be some evidence of recklessness. That may let a jury consider punitive damages, which require clear and convincing proof.

The rear driver's traffic conviction itself stays out of the civil case, because Section 56-5-6160 bars that evidence in any civil action. Whether a paid ticket counts under that rule is something a lawyer should check.

The Fairchild crash happened on Interstate 95, and the appeal came from Colleton County. A commercial-size truck towing a 28-foot trailer struck a minivan whose driver was braking for an SCDOT trailer that partly blocked her lane. The truck and trailer together weighed over eight and a half tons.

Its driver said he held a steady 65 to 70 miles per hour and was maybe 100 feet or more back when she braked. The Supreme Court held that the punitive damages claim should have gone to the jury. Proof that the truck's driver might have violated Section 56-5-1520(A) on speed and Section 56-5-1930(a) on spacing carried that claim.

Section 56-5-2150(C) bars stopping or suddenly slowing without first signaling the driver immediately behind, whenever there is a chance to give that signal. Brake lights usually give it. Picture a driver on North Main Street who slams to a stop for a turn he nearly missed. He gives no turn signal, and his stop lamp is out.

A jury could weigh that conduct against the trailing driver's gap. The statute's own penalty is small, a $25 fine with no points, but the civil question is separate.

Section 56-5-1900(a) keeps each vehicle within a single lane until the driver first confirms the move can be made safely. Section 56-5-2150 also calls for a signal during the last 100 feet before moving right or left. Suppose a driver merging onto Interstate 26 at the Nexton Parkway interchange swings into the gap ahead of you and brakes. The collision may look like a rear-end crash. The evidence can still put much of the fault on the driver who cut in.

Since 2005, Section 15-38-15 has let a defendant found under 50% at fault pay only its own share. A defendant whose share reaches 50% can be held for the entire award, which is joint and several liability. For claims arising after January 1, 2026, Act No. 42 of 2025 widened the jury's view to include people who were never sued. The crash date decides which version applies.

Under the 2026 version, a wrongdoer who settles generally goes on the verdict form anyway, so the jury can weigh that share. Fairchild had a similar shape. The minivan driver signed a covenant not to sue, a settlement in which she agreed not to pursue SCDOT, and SCDOT left the case. Today, a jury deciding a newer claim would usually see a settling party's name when it divides fault.