Does Fault Matter in An Accident Case?

Most states require those who own cars or trucks to carry vehicle insurance. Even if you’re the one at fault, you should be covered by your insurance up to your policy limits. Once those limits are reached, unless you have some kind of other coverage that may apply (such as health insurance for your own injuries), you have to pick up the tab. If you carry the minimum coverage allowed by law, it may not take long before you’ve maxed out that coverage.

Fault can be determined through a negligence claim

If you’re the person who’s not at fault for an accident, or who bears less responsibility than another party, fault matters. A civil legal action to recover harm caused by the mistakes of another would normally be a negligence action. Though laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, negligence generally boils down to the plaintiff (the party filing the lawsuit) proving that it’s more likely than not that ...

• The defendant (the party being sued, though it’s his or her insurance company paying for the legal defense and any settlement or verdict) owed the plaintiff a legal duty or obligation (normally to act as a reasonable person under the circumstances).
• The defendant breached that duty by doing something or failing to do something.
• That breach is the factual and legal (or proximate) cause of the plaintiff’s bodily injury and/or economic loss.
• That injury or loss resulted in damages (a way to measure harm in dollars).
• Under state law, the defendant has a legal obligation to compensate the plaintiff by paying those damages.

Differing views of what to do when more than one party is at fault

It’s very common that when there has been an accident and injuries, the person who suffered harm also bears some degree of fault. The person may have been driving a little over the speed limit; perhaps she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going; or he was distracted by a conversation in the car.

In a few states, any degree of fault by an accident victim results in dismissal of the personal injury lawsuit. Most states aren’t that harsh. The three views of negligence are:

• Comparative negligence: As long as the defendant is at least partially responsible for the car accident, a plaintiff can have a successful case -- but his or her damages award will be reduced by his or her share of the fault. Eleven states use this system.
• Modified comparative negligence: If the plaintiff can show he or she is no more than 49% or 50% (depending on the state) at fault, there could be a successful case against a defendant or defendants responsible for the remainder. This system is followed in 33 states, including South Carolina.
• Contributory negligence: If the plaintiff is responsible for any share of the fault, a negligence claim for injuries or harm will be dismissed. This is the law in five states.

The only state not adopting one of these theories of fault and negligence is South Dakota. Its civil negligence system is based on the fault of the plaintiff and the defendant, which is compared only if the plaintiff‘s negligence is “slight” and the defendant’s negligence is “gross.” Otherwise, the plaintiff is barred from a recovery.

Fault can be an issue when determining the harm done by an accident

Even when it comes to damages, fault can be an issue. A defendant may claim the plaintiff is at least partially at fault for the degree of harm resulting from the accident. Plaintiffs have an obligation to mitigate (or lessen) their damages and to act as a reasonable person.

• If you lost your job because you had too many absences, you can’t just stay at home and assume a lawsuit will make up the difference. If you’ve been medically cleared to work, you need to work or actively seek another job. If you’re too disabled to work, you may need to seek Social Security disability benefits or use a private disability insurance policy you may have.
• You need to comply with directions from your physician. You can’t simply ignore what you are told, or just pick and choose which advice to follow or medications to take, allowing your condition to worsen and increasing your disability. If you disagree with the medical advice given, you are free to seek another opinion. You need to act reasonably and need not take medical advice you feel is too risky but ignoring your medical professionals could seriously limit a damages award in a personal injury case.

We all have a sense of justice. We want the party who’s to blame for a problem to be held accountable. If you’ve been injured in an accident caused by the fault of another party, you may be able to attain some justice through an insurance claim or, failing that, a legal action.