(Newswire.net — December 4, 2020) — When you need to file a claim for damages after an auto accident, the success of your case will rely on showing the negligence of the other driver. Unless you are a personal injury attorney, you may not know how to go about doing this, which is why hiring a lawyer is usually necessary. In general, however, establishing the other driver’s negligence will require providing proof of the following four factors.
Establish a Duty of Care
In order to show that the other party’s negligence caused the car accident, you must be able to establish that they owed you a duty of care. The legal duty of care is different in each situation. For instance, when you ride a carnival ride, the ride’s operator owes a duty of care to ensure that the ride is safe and in proper working order. In an auto accident, establishing the duty of care is fairly simple.
When you are driving an automobile on a public road, you have a duty to follow the traffic laws in that area. By accepting that duty, you are taking reasonable steps to ensure the other drivers are safe on the road with you. So, your duty of care is to the other drivers on any public road upon which you are traveling. Similarly, those other drivers owe the same duty of care to you.
Show the Defendant Breached Their Duty
Establishing negligence in every personal injury claim relies heavily on showing that the duty of care was breached. This involves showing that the other party acted willfully or with negligence in a way that led to the accident. In some cases, the individual may act willfully and negligently all at once. For example, driving through a red light is a willful act. However, it is also negligent in that the driver shows a disregard for the other drivers on the road.
The law uses the standard of a “reasonably prudent person” in establishing negligence. In the previous example, the court will likely conclude that a reasonable and prudent person would not deliberately drive through an intersection with the red light facing them. In that case, it can be found that the defendant’s actions were negligent as most reasonable people would not have acted the same in similar circumstances.
Establish That Negligence Led to Causation
Just because you can show that the other driver acted negligently, that doesn’t mean they caused the accident. Even in your own life, you can probably think of occasions in which you made careless mistakes, where nothing bad happened as a result of your errors. The same is true in seeking damages in an auto accident claim. Once you show that the other driver acted negligently, you also have to show that their actions caused the accident.
If the other driver ran a stop sign but didn’t collide with you, they cannot be blamed for an accident you may have had further down the road. However, if they did run that stop sign and hit you as a result, you can show that their negligence caused the accident.
Establish Your Damages
The final part of proving your claim is showing that the accident was the proximate cause of your damages. This means that you suffered injuries or property damages directly following the accident and that those damages resulted from the accident. If you are in a car accident and have a heart attack five hours later, it can’t be proven that the accident was the proximate cause of your heart attack.
However, if you suffer a traumatic head injury in the accident, any symptoms that develop as a result of that injury can be said to have been caused by the accident. This is why it is important to receive medical treatment as soon after the accident as possible. Your medical records will help you establish this chain of events and the damages you suffered as a result of the incident.
If you and your personal injury attorney can establish a solid case proving the other driver’s negligence, you’ll have a strong claim from the start. Often, revealing your evidence in proving negligence will be enough to show the insurance company that it wouldn’t be beneficial for them to go to court. In that case, your lawyer will be able to negotiate a fairer settlement for you without having to take further legal action.