How Comparative Negligence Can Impact Your Personal Injury Case
It is important to understand the challenges and obstacles that could arise when pursuing financial restitution through a personal injury claim. For example, you should be prepared for the defendant (usually the defense counsel for an insurance company) will try to argue comparative negligence in an effort to minimize the number of damages you can recover through a civil claim.
Social Media
Everything you do and say publicly, particularly what your post on social media, could potentially be used against you by the insurance company in an effort to call into question the extent of your injuries or your motives for taking legal action. Even a relatively innocent Facebook or Instagram post of you for example enjoying dinner or spending time with friends could be used against you to claim that you were not “really injured” or your injuries “were not serious.” This is why you should refrain from posting anything on social media whilst your injury claim is being litigated.
What is Comparative Negligence?
Comparative negligence is a fancy legal term meant to describe the amount of fault assigned to each party in a personal injury claim. Basically, it means that you are still able to pursue financial restitution for your injuries and losses, even if you partly contributed to causing the accident. However, the drawback is that the number of recoverable damages will be reduced in proportion to the amount of assigned fault.
Let’s say Person A, for example, is traveling on West Jefferson Boulevard in Culver City when they approach a red light. Person A begins to make a right turn during the red light when they are suddenly hit by an oncoming vehicle. Person A is partly at fault since they should not have attempted a right turn at the red light. However, it is discovered that the motorist who hit Person A was intoxicated and speeding at the time of the collision.
Person A suffered multiple bodily injuries in the collision and decides to pursue financial restitution through a personal injury claim. Person A’s claim winds up going to trial and a jury determines that Person A was 25 percent at fault while the other motorist was 75 percent at fault. The jury decides to award $100,000 in damages to Person A but deducts 25 percent from that amount due to comparative negligence.
How Fault is Determined in the Wake of an Accident
In many instances, particularly with car accidents, the police report will play a large role in assessing which motorist was responsible for causing the collision. Nevertheless, the police report will not be determinative. There are other pieces of evidence that can be used to establish fault, including eyewitness testimony, video footage (e.g., footage from a red light camera or adjacent business), and expert testimony.
When pursuing financial restitution through a personal injury claim in California, your California personal injury attorney will conduct an in-depth review of the police report and all pertinent evidence that will help strengthen your case.
You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to explore your
You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to explore your legal options and determine if it makes sense to pursue financial restitution for your bodily injuries and losses. At Kash Legal, we are a team of highly experienced and reputable personal injury attorneys in California who are focused on providing effective and solution-oriented legal representation to injured victims throughout the Sunshine State.
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