Disputing Fault in a Car Accident Lawsuit

A car accident lawsuit can get messy when fault is at issue. Fault refers to a legal concept that determines who should be liable for the injuries and property damage that resulted from a car accident. In some states, called no fault states, fault doesn't matter until the injuries have become serious; for minor injuries, each party recovers from his own insurance company regardless of who was at fault. In other states, fault may need to be determined even in cases of minor injury. In all situations when someone sues- whether for serious injuries in a no fault state or for minor or serious injuries in a fault state- fault has to be determined.

Disputing Fault

If you are involved in a car accident lawsuit and the other party is disputing fault and claiming that you are at fault, when you know in reality they caused the accident, then fault will be at issue in the case. This will mean that the jury or the judge deciding the case will have to look at the facts and information available and decide who was negligent and who caused the accident. In certain types of cases, disputing fault in a car accident lawsuit is common. For example:

• One party may claim he was rear ended because the other driver didn't allow a safe distance between the cars; the driver of the back vehicle on the other hand will claim that the other driver stopped short.
• One party will claim another car cut him off by making an illegal left turn; the other party will claim that the car driving straight ran a signal.

Any time two people have different accounts of a car accident that change who is at fault, fault will have to be decided by a jury in the car accident lawsuit before it can be decided who should be awarded damages. Generally, the plaintiff in the case will have the burden of proving the defendant was at fault. This can be done using:

• Police reports of the accident
• Expert testimony from an accident reconstruction expert
• Eyewitness testimony
• Photographs of the damaged vehicles or other physical evidence from the scene
• Testimony from the victim.

The jury will evaluate all the information and decide just who they think is responsible.

Getting Legal Help

When fault is at issue in your car accident lawsuit, you need an experienced car accident attorney who can help build a case to prove who was responsible so you can collect damages owed to you instead of getting stuck footing the other driver's bills.