Customer Says She Hit 2 Cars After Car Wash Workers ‘Rammed’ Them In the Tunnel. Who Pays For the Damage?

A woman’s afternoon was derailed after a car wash malfunction resulted in a multi-car pile-up in the tunnel. She’s just worried about who will be responsible for the damages.

TikTok user Cassidy Gilliam (@cassidygilliam1) posted a video that shows the aftermath of the accident. Gilliam and her two young children are stuck in the car wash tunnel waiting for the employees to free them.

“The car wash just rammed every car in here together,” Gilliam says. “My car been ping ponging against these cars. They’ve shut the car wash down. We’re stuck in the car wash.”

Woman Hits 2 Cars in Car Wash Tunnel

Gilliam is visibly upset. “I’m like shaking because I was trying to slam on my brakes,” she says. But that caused her wheels to lock up. “So, I took off the brake and it rammed us into the back of that car,” she says, referring to the vehicle in front of her.

Unfortunately, Gilliam says the car then rebounded, which resulted in her hitting the car behind her as well. “I am in neutral,” she says. “The workers are in here.”

In the caption, Gilliam explains what happened after the video ended.

“And that ladies and gentlemen is a multi-car pile up,” she writes. “And they didn’t even offer to refund us. There was surprisingly no visible outside damage, but me and the lady in front of me made a report so we could at least go get our cars checked out underneath. The car behind me left! Guess they might’ve been in a hurry.”

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Viewers React to the Car Wash Pile-Up

In the comments section, viewers expressed shock and concern about the situation. One person said, “I am terrified of car washes. Thank you for making this valid for me.”

A second person offered a piece of helpful advice. “You file a claim and your insurance will go after the car wash for you,” they wrote. “I had a tow truck total my car, and I just filed, paid the deductible, and then received it back after the claim was processed.”

In response to another piece of advice, Gilliam wrote, “The cop told us it would be civil because it was private property. So we would have to sue the car wash. But [the car wash] said to let them know if there is any further damage and they will work with us.”

Someone else speculated that someone might lose their job over this incident. “Yes, they did fire the guy that let the truck in that got stuck” and caused the accident," Gilliam replied.

Who Is At Fault In a Car Wash Accident?

According to New Jersey law firm Nagel Rice, the car wash can be held liable for accidents caused by equipment failure or employee negligence. That’s likely why the car wash told Gilliam and the other driver that it would take care of any damages that resulted from the accident.

Of course, in many cases, liability is less clear. In a Reddit thread posted to r/legaladvice, a person in a similar situation said they had to see surveillance video to determine who was at fault, and found that it was the driver ahead of them and not the car wash.

Motor1 contacted Gilliam via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We'll update this if she responds.