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Liability in Traffic Accidents...
As we've mentioned, traffic accidents are the most likely cause of your personal injury claim. If you were injured in a traffic accident, then your job now is to show someone else's liability for the damages done. And this means showing that someone else is negligent.
Potentially, so many things can go wrong while driving a car, that there's no easy way to predict all the liabilities involved. Perhaps the other driver was speeding, or drinking or turning incorrectly. Maybe a pot hole caused a problem, or traffic lights malfunctioned.
The possible situations leading up to a car accident are truly infinite. So as we'll keep saying, you've got to do your best to think about, and detail, everything that happened at the scene of your accident.
With traffic accidents 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.
Take a distracted driver, for example. 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 easier.
Without witnesses you'll have a much tougher time. Traffic accident photos, and the police report, can tell a pretty accurate tale by showing 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.
You need to notice things that could 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 report may make note of these things, so read it carefully.
In many situations, as we’ve discussed, the traffic accident will still 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, 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, the causes don’t necessarily have to have anything to do with 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 now have the right to pursue both parties for your claim.
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