To file a valid personal injury claim based on a car accident in California, the plaintiff must first prove that the other driver was negligent. In addition, the parties must also apply pure comparative negligence to determine the percentage of how much a plaintiff can collect from the defendant for the injuries and damages they sustained from the car accident.
What Are the Elements to Demonstrate Driver Negligence?
In California, a person is negligent if they fail to act so that a reasonably careful person would react in the same situation. In essence, a person is negligent if they do something that a reasonably prudent person would not do under the same circumstances, or in contrast if they failed to act in a way that a reasonable person would act under the same situation.
In determining negligence, the plaintiff to a personal injury case must prove the following elements to claim damages:
-
Duty: That the other driver had an obligation to operate their vehicle safely;
-
Breach: That the other driver had breached that duty;
-
Causation: That the other driver's actions had caused the accident; and
-
Damages: That the accident has directly caused injuries or damages to the plaintiff.
Generally, the duty of care is created by law. In a car accident, the "duty of care" element is formed by traffic laws. An experienced attorney can assess the facts of your case to help you determine the duty owed by a party in a car accident by applying the language of the law.
The next thing to prove after establishing that a defendant has a duty of care towards the plaintiff would be that the said duty has been breached. Once the breach of the defendant's duty has been determined, the plaintiff must show that the said breach has caused the car accident.
Lastly, the plaintiff must show that they have injuries and damages sustained from the car accident.
Are There Defenses to Negligence?
Yes, there are.
There are numerous defenses to negligence, of which the most common ones are those attacking the four elements listed above. Some of these defenses include:
-
The defendant owed no duty to the plaintiff;
-
The plaintiff assumed the risk of the injury, which basically
What is Comparative Negligence?
A legal principle called Comparative Negligence, which assigns liability to two or more parties based on the degree of their negligence contributed to the accident and injuries. This principle is applied to determine whether a plaintiff can collect damages and how much from the defendant.
There are three types of comparative negligence systems. One is pure comparative negligence; the other is modified comparative negligence and contributory negligence.
Under the pure comparative negligence system, the plaintiff is compensated for the damages based on the other party's fault. In this principle, the plaintiff's claim will be deducted by the amount of their contribution to the accident.
Whereas in modified comparative negligence, the plaintiff would not be able to claim any damages if their liability to the car accident and their damages was more than the other party. This means that the plaintiff will be refrained from collecting damages from the other party if they are 51% at fault in the accident.
While contributory negligence bars a plaintiff from collecting damages from the other party if they contributed to the accident or injuries in any way. Under this rule, a plaintiff that is even 1% at fault would not be able to collect any damages from the defendant.
The State of California follows pure comparative negligence in determining compensation to award to plaintiffs. As discussed above, pure comparative negligence allows a plaintiff to collect damages to the liable percentage of the other party. This means that a plaintiff can claim compensation even if their liability is greater than the other party.
In the practice of pure comparative negligence, if a jury determines that the damages sustained by the plaintiff are $100,000, but the plaintiff is 40% at fault in the accident, then their claim will be reduced by 40%. Essentially, the plaintiff can only claim $60,000 from the defendant.
Note that all the information provided in this article does not include every legal scenario applicable in every case. For legal advice, you should consult with a licensed personal injury attorney at Injury Compensation Law PC.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a vehicular accident, contact our team of experienced personal injury attorneys who can help you sort out your case and assess your legal options.
