Chain fender bender and a month later the first car that caused the accident the driver claimed endured an injury

Have you reported the accident to your insurance company? If so, you should let them handle it. As a car accident attorney, I will tell you that it's not unusual for someone to appear fine after the accident, only to have injuries and pain surface later in time. There really is no way to fight it besides for letting your insurance company do its job.

Don't over think this. Report the accident to your insurance carrier, give your description of what occurred, and then follow their instructions. There is nothing else for you to do. Car damage is not necessarily an indicator of whether someone is injured, nor is whether they were in pain at the scene of the accident. Maybe she was injured, maybe not, but you will not be the person making that determination. And if you struck a vehicle that was stopped in front of you then you sound as if you were at fault for the accident. It's called keeping a safe distance from the vehicles in front of you so that IN CASE THEY HAVE TO STOP ABRUPTLY, you have room to also slow your vehicle without hitting anyone. Seems like the other vehicles didn't have any problem stopping if I understand your description correctly. Good luck with it.

You should turn the matter over to your automobile insurance carrier. If you were uninsured at the time of the accident, you will have to either retain an attorney at your expense . Otherwise, you could defend yourself but I would not recommend representing yourself.

Easiest to turn it over to your insurance company to sort out, and don't lose sleep over it.

From what you described you are clearly liable for this collision and just because at the scene it did not appear there was any injury this does not mean the person did not suffer a serious injury. California as all states adhere to a concept called "assured clear distance ahead." A driver following other cars must drive at such a speed and leave room so that for whatever reason a car in front stops--suddenly--for no reason, etc the car behind can stop safely. The car in front of you was driving safely--it stopped without hitting anyone. YOu were driving carelessly--either too fast or too close or a combination--proof of this is simply that you could not stop before hitting the car in front. The girl did not cause this wreck--YOU DID. Also you have insurance I assume and you should let your company handle the claim. YOu company will claim this girl is not injured regardless of whether she is or not--that's what insurance companies do.

Let your insurance company take care of this. If the person making the claim against you is not truly injured, your insurance company will figure it out and not pay. This is why you have insurance.

Why did the first car stop suddenly? Perhaps the driver saw something that obstructed her lane and she had to stop. I highly doubt she would stop her vehicle for absolutely no reason at all in the middle of traffic. When you operate a motor vehicle, you have a duty to drive in a careful manner. That includes driving at a reasonable speed and leaving enough space between you and the car in front of you. That way, if there is a need for an emergency stop, you can do so without hitting the vehicle in front of you. If the light to turn left was yellow, then you do not speed up to beat the light. You stop. To say that the first driver caused the accident because she suddenly stopped, without providing more facts as to why she stopped, is a legal conclusion and an untenable argument. From the facts that you provided, you certainly appear to be at fault. However, if you are properly insured, you have nothing to fear. Simply tender the claim to your insurance company and they will handle it for you. If you do not have insurance, then you will need to hire a private civil defense attorney and pay everything out of pocket. Good luck.

Please call a California PI attorney as soon as you can!