Auto Accident: Whose Fault is it?

Determining the party at fault in a car accident is not difficulty but the process could be tedious. This is because there needs to be enough time spent in analyzing the accident and preparing to prove the case. Investigations done after car accidents are aimed at drawing out the facts from the parties involved in order to see whether negligence was involved. This is important because negligence often means that the party who showed it is at fault. 

Unless you live in a no-fault state, the insurance company bears the weight of determining the negligent party in the auto accident before damages can be paid. For the insurance company to do that, the people who represent the company should use the four elements of negligence: duty, breach, causation and damages. All these elements must be present for a party to be considered the one at fault. 

These are the steps that the insurance company and the policy owner will undergo in order to find out who is at fault. 

1. Review driver duty for both drivers. Any person behind the wheel is assumed the driver of the vehicle, thus that person assumes driver duty. With or without a license and of legal age or not, the one behind the wheel bears that duty. The law places affirmative duties to both drivers. The duties usually involve: “look out, avoidance, and obey the rules of the road”.

2. Determine whether the driver violated any of the duties mentioned. This step needs the insurance company representatives to interview both drivers to check if they followed the rules of the road and whether they paid attention to the whole situation. 

3. Figure out whether the drivers attempted to avoid the accident. Even if the one driver may have been wrong, that does not mean that the other driver has the right to hit the car.  

4. Find out whether both drivers understand “the rules of the road”. This is because both drivers have to be in full compliance of the traffic rules enforced in the road where the accident took place. Traffic laws can vary from place to place. 

5. Determine the duties that the at-fault party may have violated. Also, if the driver was alone, it is also important to determine accident fault. Then, the all the duties that were violated should be presented in order to pick the one with the heaviest weight.

6. Establish that a cause and effect relationship exists between the breached duty and the damage done. 

7. Find out the extent and the amount of the damages. Damages can come in the form of bodily injury or property damage. The injured party or the one with the damaged property should have evidence that the car accident caused the injury or the damage. Although this step looks easy, it can get complicated. 

In conclusion, a personal injury lawyer in the Bronx should understand the injury claim in Washington Heights or where the car accident claim is in New York if he wants to establish the party at fault. An expert vehicle accident lawyer in Upper Manhattan should carefully examine the duties breached before he attempts to pursue the case in or out of court. For this matter, you can read most NYC accident attorney blogs for more information.

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