Figuring out who is “at fault” for a particular accident is challenging. It requires understanding different variables before determining who is or isn’t negligent. While it’s may seem simple enough to declare another party to be at fault, this isn’t enough to work in the court of law. There has to be clear-cut evidence to determine which individual is legally liable.
When an auto accident takes place, it generally occurs because one party was reckless or careless. This is why the general rule states, the person that was deemed less careful in the car accident is the one that is liable for the auto accident. If both parties are careless, a percentage is assigned to determine how the damages are split between the two.
To determine legal liability between both parties, the law requires a rule of carelessness to be utilized.
The first rule is to figure out whether or not the injured person was in the right place based on their legal right on the road and if they were breaking the law in another manner (i.e. using a cellphone while driving). These variables play a big role in who is deemed to be liable at the end of the day. In this type of case, the person that caused the accident doesn’t have to be liable as they weren’t responsible for the other party taking care of themselves on the road.
Another rule is when the injured person was careless but they were not as careless as the other party. This means they were less than 50% responsible for the auto accident as determined by the law. In this case, they would have to pay that amount in damages. The idea behind doing this is to set negligence using percentages (i.e. comparative negligence).
In some situations, when a negligent driver causes an accident as an employee, the employer may end up becoming involved in the legal process as well from a responsibility perspective.
Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C.
1355 Peachtree St NW #1000, Atlanta, GA 30309
(404) 885-1983
If the accident leads to property damage and the property endangered the driver, this can result in the property owner also coming under the act of carelessness due to how the property was maintained. This is whether or not the actual driving incident was caused due to the dangerous condition.
If the accident happened because of a product that was sold to the vehicle owner, this can also be an act of carelessness on the part of the manufacturer/seller. The defect may have caused the accident and this puts the responsibility on the seller’s shoulders.
Let’s assume multiple drivers are part of an auto accident and at least two of them are held responsible for the wreck. In this case, the process involves the careless parties being held liable for the damages to all parties. The careless parties can take the time to discuss these details with each other to see how the reimbursement is going to work but 100% of it will come from them.
The rule is essential because it ensures liability is legally declared and reimbursement does take place. In some cases, one of the parties may not have auto insurance while the other does. This makes it easier to claim the full amount from the insured driver. If both parties don’t have auto insurance, the settlement has to go through the individual that does have insurance. It’s best to figure out who is responsible as soon as possible and let them know about the damages.
If you were the one that was careless and caused an auto accident, it is still possible to receive a small amount of compensation for what took place. The idea is to have a percentage assigned for how responsible you were for the accident in comparison to the other party. In this case, you would get the amount that was assigned to the other party due to comparative negligence.
