Who is responsible for an accident you were involved in? Determining this very important step of assigning responsibility for an accident that occurred or an injury that happened is never easy but it needs to happen in order to succeed. You will first need to determine who was legally at fault and then provide enough proof to back up your claim.
Determining Legal Liability
Majority of accidents occur because someone else was being careless. So how do you determine the fault when both people can be responsible? The fact is, and a good rule of thumb is if one person that is involved in an accident was not as careful as another, then the less careful individual will be responsible for paying the least amount of damages that is due to the accident. To determine legal liability for most accidents, one or more of the following can be used:
If the person who received the injury was not even supposed to be in that place where the accident happened, and it caused the accident to happen, then that person is not liable because the individual who had no idea that someone was there could not have known and stopped the accident from occurring.
If the individual who became injured was being careless, their compensation could be reduced because of it. This is normally referred to as comparative negligence. If someone who is negligent causes an accident, while they are working for someone else, the employer will most likely be held responsible for the accident that occurred. If the accident that happened was caused by a product that was defective, then the manufacturer as well as the seller of the product, will be held liable.
When More Than One Person Is at Fault
If several drivers were driving carelessly and an accident occurred, then the law in most of the states will follow through with all parties that were being careless contributed to the accident and will share the responsibility of compensating all that were injured because of it.
How Your Own Carelessness Affects Your Claim
If you were careless and have caused the accident to some extent, or share some responsibility of that accident to some extent, then you will need to pay for part of the accident and all its expenses. The amount is determined later on as your case is heard in court. The amount is determined in a percentage that you will be responsible for paying, not an actual dollar amount in order to be fair. Anytime you find yourself in an accident, whether you caused it or you were a victim, you need to be represented by a lawyer. Choose a personal injury lawyer in Sherwood Park that brings experience to the table and has a proven history of representing others, with the same issues.