After a traffic accident, you will surely have many questions. It is normal to not be aware of what the best choices are. Most people know nothing about the personal injury laws that apply. With this in mind, let’s take a look at two questions you should know the answer to in the unwanted situation in which you are in need of an attorney for car accidents since you were injured in a crash.
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What Will Determine The Party At Fault?
In most cases, you need to determine who was negligent, which practically means who was careless. With vehicle accidents, there are several laws that do dictate how people need to act as they drive. Guidelines do exist and liability can be measured.
In every single US state, there are specific laws listed in the vehicle code. They apply to automobiles, pedestrians, bicycles, and motorcycles.
Fortunately, in most cases, the traffic law violation is obvious and it is the cause of the car accident. For instance, when someone runs a red light, it is clear that party is at fault.
In other cases, the violation is not that obvious. For instance, if 2 drivers merge into one lane, determining fault is much more complicated.
Proving negligence is all about the following elements:
- Showing there was a legal requirement to be careful in a situation (this is always the case in car accidents since drivers have to always use caution)
- Showing the party at fault was not careful and did not act in a reasonable way
- Showing it was the conduct of the driver that led to the damages or the injuries that appeared.
Liability In Rear-Ended Car Crashes
When your vehicle is hit from behind, which is what we mean by rear-ended, you naturally think that the other driver was at fault. In the vast majority of cases, this is exactly what is considered to be the fault of the collision. This is because as a driver, you are required to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you. The goal of this is to have enough space to stop if something happens. Tailing drivers not capable of stopping in time are considered to be at fault since they were not driving safely.
Fortunately for rear-end car collision victims, vehicle damage clearly proves the circumstances of the accident. However, there are some very rare cases in which the one that rear-ended you was not the actual party at fault.
As an example, you might have been involved in a chain reaction car accident. Your car and the one behind you were both hit because of another vehicle that hit the one behind you. When this is the situation, it is the third car’s driver that is considered to be at fault. Both you and the driver behind you will be able to file a claim against that individual.
Final Thoughts
Car accidents are often very simple to understand but there can be elements that make it much harder to figure out exactly what happened. Also, injury and damage claims are largely controlled by insurance companies. Because of this, the best thing that you can do if you were involved in any car accident and you look for compensation, is to hire an accident.
