Finding out the One at Fault in an Auto Accident
Finding out the person at fault in a car accident is not that difficult. But, it will require good discovery techniques and proper preparation to prove the case. One of the aims of accident investigation is to draw out the facts and to find out any negligence that could be involved. Usually, negligence on a person’s part can be equated to fault.
If you do not live in a no-fault state, the insurance company needs to determine the party who is negligent in an accident involving cars. The will only pay for the damages when they are able to make the confirmation. As such, you need to know the elements of negligence – duty, breach, causation and damages. For a party to be identified as the one at fault, he must have all the elements mentioned.
The following steps are what the client and the insurance company go through in order to get to the bottom of who is at fault.
- Review the driver duty for drivers involved. Any person, no matter the age, who is behind the wheel, takes the duty of driver. Plus, he is a driver, with or without a license. The law places affirmative duties to each driver in order to establish who is at fault. The norm is: “look out, avoidance, and obey the rules of the road”.
- Find out whether the driver breached the duties mentioned. This needs good interviewing skills as well as skills in assessing whether the drivers followed the road rules and paid attention to what was going on.
- Establish that the persons behind the wheel tried to avoid the accident. In short, the driver must have attempted to prevent the accident from happening. The other car could be at the wrong; however, that does not justify hitting the car for that reason.
- Find out if both drivers know and comprehend “the rules of the road”. Both parties involved have to fully follow the traffic laws in the stretch of the road where the accident took place. This is because different laws could be enforced in different places.
- Single out the duties which the drivers could have breached. If the driver is alone at the time of the accident, it is also important to determine accident fault. Present all the breached duties and select the one that has the heaviest weight among them all.
- Prove that a relationship does exist between the breached duty and the damage done.
- Determine the amount of damages. Damages may include property damage or bodily injury. The aggrieved party should possess some proof that the car accident did cause the injury being claimed. It seems easy but certain factors can make this step complicated.
As such, a personal injury lawyer in the Bronx who intends to find out which party is at fault should know the injury claim in Washington Heights or where the car accident claim is in New York. A seasoned vehicle accident lawyer in Upper Manhattan should consider the weight of the duties breached before trying to present the case and defend his client, whether inside or outside a courtroom. If you need assistance, you can find more legal help regarding the matter by reading NYC accident attorney blogs.
