At the heart of every car accident case is the issue liability. A plaintiff’s goal is to prove that the defendant is liable for his injuries and property damage. The defendant’s goal is to prove that he is not liable for the plaintiff’s injuries and property damage.
Proving Liability
In order to prove a defendant’s liability in a car accident case, a plaintiff must demonstrate the following four elements:
- That the defendant had a duty of care to act or refrain from acting in a certain manner;
- That the defendant breached that duty;
- That the plaintiff was injured; and
- That the defendant’s breach of the duty of care was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.
If a plaintiff proves these elements, he may be entitled to recover damages.
Defenses in a Car Accident Case
A defendant in a car accident case may offer a variety of defenses. A defense is a legal or factual reason why the plaintiff should not recover the relief he seeks. Two of the most common defenses in auto accident cases are:
- Comparative negligence; and
- Contributory negligence.
Comparative negligence is a measurement of the plaintiff’s negligence against that of the defendant. If a plaintiff is found comparatively negligent, the judge or jury must attribute a percentage figure to his negligence. The amount of the plaintiff’s award will be reduced in proportion to the percentage of negligence attributable to the plaintiff as long as his degree of fault is less than that of the defendant and by the exercise of ordinary care he could not have avoided having the car accident. If the percentage of negligence attributable to the plaintiff exceeds the percentage of negligence attributable to the defendant, the plaintiff will not be entitled to a recovery.
Contributory negligence is also a means of measuring the plaintiff’s negligence against that of the defendant. Contributory negligence is defined as conduct on the part of a plaintiff which falls below the standard to which he is legally required to conform for his own protection and which is the contributing cause, along with the negligence of the defendant, to his injuries. A successful contributory negligence defense is a complete bar to a plaintiff’s recovery.
Getting Legal Help
State law governs which defenses are available to a defendant in a car accident case; the comparative negligence defense is not available in all fifty states. Therefore, it’s important to hire an experienced personal injury attorney who is familiar with the laws of the state in which the lawsuit will be filed and can formulate the appropriate strategy for prosecuting your case.
