Crash who is at fault

Insurance companies will determine fault based on the legal definition of negligence in the state where the accident happened. A driver is determined to be negligent if they fail to exercise the amount of caution a reasonable person would under the same circumstances.

For instance, a driver who runs a red light is seen as negligent compared to the reasonable driver who waits at a red light and drives at a green light. After a car accident, the victim may file a lawsuit to recover money for their injuries and damages.

If you file a lawsuit following a car accident, the court will determine who was at fault by considering whether the defendant was negligent. As discussed above, a person is negligent when he or she fails to take reasonable caution under the circumstances.

This includes testimonies from drivers, witnesses, police officers, and experts such as doctors and accident reconstructionists. Either a judge or a jury, depending on who is responsible for deciding the case, will determine based on the evidence whether the other driver was negligent and must pay you money to compensate you for your injuries and other losses.

As stated earlier, it is important to understand that police reports and determinations of fault by insurance companies do not control the outcome of a court case. The rules of evidence may prevent certain evidence from being introduced during trial, including police reports, which are generally considered hearsay.

Moreover, different rules govern the legal determination of responsibility for a car accident, including precedent from prior cases in the jurisdiction where your case is being heard. Another thing to keep in mind is that evidence of a traffic violation, such as a traffic citation, may persuade the court that the party who committed the violation was acting negligently and is therefore at fault for the accident. This concept is known as negligence per se, and can be very helpful to your case if you were injured by a driver who violated traffic laws.

You need as much documentation as you can provide in support of your claim for injuries and other damages. Find out what kinds of evidence are crucial in a car accident case, and why they are important below. Car damage, which may also be assessed by the police and insurer, is a major factor in determining fault. In this case, it would be simpler to prove the driver behind is to blame. In any case, be sure to take pictures and videos of damaged vehicles following an accident. Evidence obtained in this manner is used later in making the determination of which driver was negligent.

Images of your injuries are not the only thing you can use to determine who and why the accident happened. Admitting fault in a car accident can hurt your rights as an accident victim.

The legal team at Accident. Remember though, there are time limitations to filing claims, so be sure to contact Accident. Submit a contact form via desktop or mobile device. Our algorithm will connect you to an injury attorney located near you.

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Copyright All right reserved. Free Consultation. Intro Home. Keep reading to learn how to handle a car accident without admitting fault. Speak to a Lawyer Near You. Choose Accident Type Car Accident. Workers Comp. Slip and Fall. Wrongful Death. Auto Accident. Workers Compensation. Tagged: Truck Accident Injury. Free Car Accident Consultation.

Free Case Review Submit a contact form via desktop or mobile device. What to do After a Car Accident. California Resources. Case Studies. SSDI Benefits. Legal Resources for Car Accidents. Get Max Compensation. To figure out who is at fault you may have to use a negligence principle called comparative negligence to help figure it out. The law calls this comparative negligence because you have to compare the actions of each driver and assign a percentage of fault to each negligent party.

For example, in a four-car crash, the lead car might stop in time but the car directly behind does not stop and hits the lead car. After the first impact, the third car is able to stop but the fourth rear car does not stop and hits the third car pushing it into the rear of the second car.

In this 4 car accident the second car and the fourth car may be comparatively negligent in causing the accident. The second car fails to stop in time and runs into the rear of the first car.

The third car fails to stop in time and runs into the back of the second car. In this 3 car accident, the second and third car will each have fault because each of them were unable to stop in time. The first car will generally have no fault because it was able to stop without hitting anyone. Sometimes everyone in the accident agrees what happened. But that is not usually the case. Most of the time people involved and the witnesses will have slightly different accounts.

To figure out what really happened will take comparing what all the witnesses say to the physical evidence at the scene. Things to consider are the damage to each vehicle, the number of impacts each driver felt, and the timing of those impacts.

A good car accident attorney can help piece all this information together. In a head on collision, the driver that crosses into the other drivers lane is usually at fault. Common situations where a head on collision causes a multi car accident involves a driver drifting into on coming traffic and hitting a car going the opposite direction. One of these cars then hits one or more other cars. In this situation, the car that drifted into on coming traffic would be at fault.

Sometimes, the car that crosses into oncoming traffic is not at fault. One car sideswipes the other car causing the other car to cross into oncoming traffic and hit another car head on. In this situation, the car that sideswiped the other car and not the car that crossed into oncoming traffic will be at fault.

Another common multi car accident scenario involves intersection crashes.