I'm curious what traffic violation you might think the woman may have made? If she was driving 60 miles an hour on an expressway, that is usually within the speed limit, isn't it?
I'm not certain there are laws against being a bad driver. The police department, I have to imagine, has no part to play in the determination of liability from an insurance standpoint.
Drac, you say you would issue a ticket ... for what?
You've asked a couple of questions.
First -- most states use a very similar traffic code, adapted from sources like the Model Traffic Code. Otherwise, you'd have to really worry about what was legal in each state as you drove. Imagine if, say, Virginia chose to drive on the right side of the road and Maryland used the left... Talk about a nightmare! Most states have laws against being a bad driver. In Virginia, for example there is the state code violation of reckless driving for people who drive in such a way to endanger other people or property. There are several specific instances, like reckless by speed or by driving a car with defective brakes, in addition to the general law. There are also laws requiring that you be in control of the car, and many jurisdictions have laws requiring you to give your full-time attention to driving. In particular to rear-end collisions are the following offenses: following too closely (in other words, following so close that you cannot stop if the car in front of you does), driving too fast for the conditions (if you're blasting through stop & go traffic at 60...even though you're not speeding by the posted limit, you're driving too fast for the traffic conditions; similarly, driving too fast to control the car on icy or foggy roads are other examples), reckless driving (multiple reasons; by definition, if you hit someone, you're endangering them!), fail to pay full time attention (hit them because you were changing the radio station, talking on the cell phone, putting on make-up or playing the violin), and various defective equipment violations if the cause was mechanical disrepair. In the case at hand -- I'd probably have charged either following too closely, or fail to pay full time attention, depending on the exact circumstances and statements.
As to fault... The police investigate accidents for simple reasons; we're there, there was often a violation of the traffic code, and we're interested in making the roads safer. Police reports are also used by the highway department and other similar planning bodies to address road design and designate areas for traffic calming measures, or other changes to increase safety. The insurance companies typically review police reports (if any) of accidents, as well as the statements made in the claims by the insured. Depending on circumstances, they may contact the officer who investigated the crash. In some cases, they even have their own accident reconstructionists investigate the case. When they're done, the assign fault for payment, and they can assign fault in proportions (driver 1 was 70% at fault, but driver 2 was 30% at fault because they stopped in the roadway - in violation of the law - without cause, for example...) Police reports generally simply identify the driver most at fault; the one who's actions caused the wreck. The insurance companies dicker over how much each will pay... And they usually do it all behind the scenes.
