Comparitive Fault In Auto Accidents

Comparative fault or comparative negligence is a legal concept used by most states in the United States to determine personal injury damages. When a person sues for a car accident, this is a form of personal injury lawsuit. The doctrine of comparative fault thus applies in these situations.

Understanding Fault

Fault is an important legal concept as it can determine who has to pay for damages arising from a car accident. There are two major systems in place in the United States with regard to fault:

Fault systems: In a fault or tort state, the driver who is responsible for a car accident pays for the damages. He or his insurance company can pay in an out of court agreement either before a lawsuit has been filed, or after a lawsuit has been filed but before the lawsuit is decided by a jury. He can also pay after a jury verdict in which the jury awards damages
No Fault systems: In one of the twelve no fault states, each person must make a claim for damages arising from minor injuries with their own insurance companies under their personal injury protection, regardless of who is at fault. Only when an accident meets the legal definition of serious can the person sue. Serious injuries usually include permanent injuries, and/or injuries that are disabling or disfiguring.

Comparative Fault

Comparative fault comes into play when a lawsuit occurs. If a lawsuit occurs, the jury will determine who is at fault for the accident. Sometimes, this is easy - one of the parties is completely responsible while the other party was behaving as a perfect, careful, law abiding citizen and was simply an innocent victim. In other cases, however, the plaintiff of person suing or trying to recover damages was partially at fault too. For example, the defendant may have been 80 percent at fault for causing the accident and the plaintiff 20 percent at fault.

Under comparative fault, the plaintiff can still recover his damages, even if he was partially at fault. This is an alternative to a contributory negligence system wherein if a plaintiff was partially at fault, he was barred for recovering. Under a comparative fault system, the plaintiffs damages are reduced by the amount of fault that is his. so, in the above example, if the plaintiff was awarded a $100,000 verdict by the jury, he would be entitled only to 80 percent of that verdict, since 20 percent of the fault was his.

Getting Help

If you have been involved in a car accident, you should consult with an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney can explain to you whether your state is a comparative fault state or not. He can also help you to determine whether you can recover damages from the defendant in your particular situation, and what those damages may be.

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