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Car Accident Insurance Settlements: Establishing Liability in Auto
Collisions...
As
we've mentioned, most personal injury claims are for car accident
insurance settlements.
If you were injured in an auto collision, then
you must show someone else was liable for the damages.
Without showing that someone else was negligent, and therefore liable for your
damages, it's not very likely you'll get a fair car accident insurance
settlement.
So many things can go wrong while driving a car that there's no easy
way to predict all the liabilities from the outset.
There are many top causes of car accidents. Perhaps the other driver
was speeding, or drinking, or turning incorrectly. Maybe a pot hole
caused a problem, or a traffic light malfunctioned.
The possible
situations leading up to an auto collision are truly infinite. So as
we'll
keep saying, you've got to do your best to detail
everything that happened at the scene of your accident.
With car accident insurance settlements there's often no fool-proof way
of determining
liability. Things often come down to who tells the most convincing
story. Because of all the possibilities there's not always a way to
state with certainty what events transpired before the crash.
For example,
take
a distracted driver. This is definitely a sign of
negligence and can easily be said to be the cause. But, how can
distraction be proved after the fact?
This is where witnesses
are important. Hopefully they'll have seen the driver looking away from
the road, using the radio or cell phone, or talking with someone in the
back seat.
A good
witness creates a situation where it's no longer just
your word against the driver’s - this makes your battle much easier.
Without
witnesses you'll have a tougher time. But auto accident pictures and
the police report can tell a pretty accurate car accident story.
They'll show how the
accident looked, where the damage was done and where it all took place.
If it was mid-intersection and the other driver sideswiped you, then
you can easily claim you entered the intersection first.
You could also
suggest they weren’t paying attention, because if they were, they would
have tried to avoid hitting you. Taking pictures of any skidmarks can
confirm or deny if a driver tried to avoid the accident.
You need to
notice things that
can help you prove liability.
If a lot of children were in the other
driver's car, or an open map lay on the passenger seat, there's a good
chance the driver was distracted.
The police accident report may make note of details like this, so read
it carefully.
In some situations, the traffic accident will be partially your fault.
If
the other driver ran a stop sign, but you were the one glancing at a
map, the insurance adjuster will argue that you're partially negligent.
Arguments
of split liability will always arise in car accident
insurance settlements, no matter how clear it is you're
not at fault. Be prepared for this.
If you really did nothing wrong,
make sure your version of the accident stresses details that
demonstrate this. If you were partially negligent, then downplay it as
much as you can.
When traffic accidents have more than one
cause, one of the causes doesn’t necessarily have to be attributable
to you.
If a driver was speeding and hit you in the middle of an
intersection where the traffic lights failed, then both causes are
valid. The other driver and the city are both negligent in some way.
Since both of these causes resulted in your injuries, you have the
right to pursue both parties for your claim.
Return from Car Accident Insurance Settlements to Lawsuit Settlements
Return from Car Accident Insurance Settlements to the Personal Injury Settlement Guide
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