Who is Responsible for a Car Accident?
The chaos surrounding a serious car accident can make it hard to think clearly – especially if you’ve been severely injured. You’re only thinking about whether or not you’re going to be okay, and if anyone else was hurt badly. Unfortunately, though, if you have been injured, it will be important to determine who was to blame in order for you to obtain any compensation you may deserve for the medical bills and other expenses you’ll face.
If you have suffered a severe injury or tragically lost a loved one in an automobile accident, please get in touch with attorney Arye P. Corbett as soon as you can. Mr. Corbett will help determine exactly who is at fault, and work passionately to help you get money if you’re not to blame.
Schedule a free consultation by contacting our office online, or by calling (561) 948-3700.
Determining Liability in Two-Car Accidents
The typical automobile accident involves two vehicles. Before you can obtain compensation, you’ll have to be able to prove that the other driver should bear most – if not all – of the responsibility for what happened.
In order to do that, you’ll have to prove negligence in the following ways.
You must prove that the other driver violated the duty of care all motorists owe to others on the road to drive as safely as possible.
You must also prove the at-fault driver performed a negligent act, and breached that duty of care. They might have been speeding, driving while distracted, or driving while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
You also have to prove causation. Basically, this involves proving the negligent act directly caused the wreck, and also your injury.
Finally, you must prove you incurred damages, or losses, directly because of the accident.
Is the Following Vehicle Always Liable for a Rear-End Accident?
A rear-end accident is particularly dangerous, leading to potentially devastating neck and back injuries as well as other types of injuries. You might assume that the driver of the car that hits the forward vehicle will always be to blame. Most of the time, you’d be correct. That driver is responsible for maintaining enough space between vehicles so that this kind of accident won’t happen.
But there are some exceptions to this rule. If the driver in front decides to go into reverse for some reason, they will be found to blame. The front-facing driver may have neglected to fix their tail lights, or may have stopped suddenly.
Common Causes of Car Accidents
Just as there are many different kinds of vehicle accidents, there are also many different reasons these accidents occur. These are just a few of the more common ones.
Distracted driving – Texting or talking on a smartphone, fiddling with different knobs, and just otherwise not staying focused on the road can result in devastating crashes.
Recklessness – Some people couldn’t care less about the safety of others on the road. They will swerve through lanes with no regard to what other vehicles might be present.
Running red lights and/or stop signs – This is another consequence of inattentiveness – or aggressiveness – that can result in catastrophic T-bone, or side impact, collisions.
Speeding – Just about everyone speeds at one time or another. But there’s almost never a worthwhile reason for doing so, unless you’re in some sort of true emergency situation. There’s an old saying, “speed kills.” That was true decades ago, and will always be true.
Impaired driving – When someone gets behind the wheel when drunk or high, they can’t react as quickly to their surroundings on the road.
Driver vs. Car Owner: Who’s Liable?
You probably haven’t heard of Florida’s Dangerous Instrumentality law. In a nutshell, it states that whoever owns the title of a vehicle will be liable for injuries or property damage – whether or not that owner was behind the wheel at the time of the accident. If the person driving the vehicle caused the accident, the owner will be responsible.
Exceptions to this law do exist, however. If, for example, you signed papers to buy a car but the title hasn’t yet been officially processed, then you may be able to escape liability if someone else driving that car was to blame. Also, if the car you own was stolen, you won’t be responsible if the thief causes a wreck.
This is one of the reasons why you should take your name off of the title if you no longer drive the car, yet someone else does. If, for example, you recently divorced your spouse, and that spouse has taken control of the vehicle that is in both of your names, get your name removed as soon as you can.
How to Prove that a Party is Liable in a Car Accident Case
As stated earlier, the only way you’ll be able to recover compensation in a vehicle accident case is to prove you weren’t at fault – or, at worst, to prove the other driver was mostly to blame. In order to do that, you’ll need hard evidence.
Here are a few types of evidence that could greatly strengthen your case.
The other driver may have clearly admitted fault. But you’ll need a record of that statement, either through the police report, or by taking a video of that statement.
There could have been witnesses who saw exactly what happened. Gathering their statements will be critically important to your case.
The police report will typically paint a relatively accurate picture of what occurred. You or your attorney will need to obtain a copy.
Photos and videos will also go a long way toward telling the story of why the accident took place. If possible, capture the scene with your smartphone or a camera.
If the accident happened in a populated area, there’s a good chance a nearby security camera captured the wreck. Your attorney will be able to obtain that footage.
Contact an Experienced Car Accident Attorney
Your best chance of obtaining that evidence – and, as a result, obtaining the compensation you deserve – will be to get in touch with an experienced attorney as soon as you can. Arye P. Corbett has that experience. Contact our office online or call (561) 948-3700 for a free case review.