At least one car accident happens in the city of New York every single day. It is not hard to see why, seeing as how all its streets are constantly flowing with traffic. Being involved in a car accident in New York can sometimes be very traumatic, and can even result in significant financial, emotional, and physical damages.
If you’ve been involved in an accident in the Bronx, then you probably need to know how to determine fault. A car accident lawyer in the Bronx will know how to proceed with your claim in a no-fault state like New York. They understand that a personal injury claim must first be reviewed by the car insurance provider.
However, if you sustained a severe injury because of the accident, the state allows the victim to file a legal claim against the driver who caused the accident.
What is Comparative Negligence?
This is a legal doctrine that’s triggered when both parties involved in a car accident share some percentage of fault. Investigators and insurance adjusters determine how much blame an injured party is responsible for and reduce the amount they’d receive as their award.
Comparative negligence rules and regulations vary from state to state in the United States. Most states don’t allow injured parties to recover anything if their at-fault percentage is over 50% or 51%. An interesting outlier, though, is South Dakota, the only state in America that uses the rule of gross/slight contributory negligence. In this rule, percentages of fault are replaced with “gross” and “slight” contributions to the incident.
The comparative negligence rule in New York is a little more relaxed compared to what other states have going on. For starters, New York uses a “pure comparative negligence” rule, making it 1 of only 12 states in America that does. Under this legal rule, an injured party has the right to recover damages, notwithstanding their percentage of fault in the accident. Meaning that, even if the party was 99.9% at fault, they can still get 0.1% of their damages.
The Role of Evidence
In cases that involve comparative negligence, evidence is vital. Both parties to the accident will be given a chance to present evidence, including eyewitness accounts, police reports, and other relevant pieces of evidence that can help them support their claim. The court will analyze and use all the information presented to determine the percentages of fault of each party. It’s always a good idea to get the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer who understands how to properly collect evidence and how to present this evidence in court.
And how does the comparative negligence rule impact damages in such claims? Well, in such cases, each party’s degree of fault is what determines how damages are awarded. This is good to know, because it means that one can still recover some damages even if they may have been partially to blame for the accident.
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Determining the Degree of Fault
If the claim you file makes its way all the way into a courtroom, the jury will have to figure out the degree of fault of each party involved in the accident and then reduce the compensation accordingly. Many car accident cases typically settle without going to trial. An insurance adjuster will determine the degree of fault and then calculate damages before coming up with a settlement offer.
Never expect the adjuster to act impartially. Their whole game is to try and make the insurance company have to pay the least amount possible, so they might try to make it out like you’re more responsible for the accident than you really are.
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