About Car Accident Lawsuits – General Legal Information
By: Penelope Stone | Posted: 16th April 2010
Among the most common of all personal injury lawsuits, thousands of car accident lawsuits are filed in the United States each month. Many of these cases involve serious injuries and deaths that could have been avoided if not for the negligent and reckless actions of other drivers. Some of these drivers are distracted by cell phones, music, or even attempts to eat while driving while others simply disregard the rules of the road. Fortunately, personal injury law gives injured victims and their families an opportunity to hold poor drivers responsible for the consequences of their actions.
Auto accident attorneys must prove the following elements in order to obtain compensation on behalf of their clients in a car, truck, or motorcycle accident case:
• That the driver primarily or solely responsible for the accident failed to act as a reasonable person would have under the same circumstances (in other words, that he or she acted negligently)
• That this act of negligence contributed to or caused the auto accident
• That the auto accident caused the victim to be seriously injured or killed
• That the victim (or, in wrongful death cases, the victim's family) faces substantial losses and expenses as a result of the injuries sustained in the accident
If each of these elements is proven, then the defendant--the negligent driver--will be held financially liable for the losses and expenses sustained by the victim (or the victim's family).
Many states allow victims to recover some compensation even if they, themselves, were partially responsible for the accident. Under the legal doctrine of comparative liability, these partially responsible victims may pursue compensation in proportion to the percentage of fault on the part of the defendant. For example, if the defendant is found to have been 65 percent responsible for the accident, the plaintiff may recover damages equal to 65 percent of the total losses and expenses incurred due to his or her injury.
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Tags: damages, proportion, defendant, plaintiff, personal injury law, negligence, rules of the road, deaths, car accident, motorcycle accident, car truck, reasonable person, accident case, personal injury lawsuits