How much fault matters in car accident cases

How much fault matters in car accident cases

| Apr 29, 2015 | Car Accidents |

In some cases, one driver is entirely at fault for a car accident, while in others, both drivers share responsibility for the accident. It can be difficult to determine exactly who was at fault for a car accident, but it is very important to figure out.

Fault matters because it is directly related to the compensation that you will be entitled to following a car accidents. In some states, a driver cannot recover any damages if he or she was at all responsible for a car accident.

Luckily, the law is more reasonable in Oklahoma and drivers can still be entitled to recovery if they shared responsibility for the accident, but the compensation is  based on their fault.

For example, if another driver was distracted and collided into your vehicle causing you to suffer and injury and property damage, that driver will likely be on the hook for covering your medical expenses and car repairs.

However, if another driver was distracted but you were also speeding at the time the accident occurred, the compensation that you are entitled to will likely be reduced in proportion to the responsibility you share for the accident.

If you were more than 50 percent responsible for the accident, the law may bar you from recovery completely. If you were just 25 percent at fault for the accident, then the other driver would likely be responsible for 75 percent of your losses.

This legal doctrine is known as comparative negligence, and it is something that should be handled  by an experienced personal injury lawyer to ensure that you get the maximum recovery that you are entitled to under the law.

To find out more about how our firm assists Oklahoma drivers who were partially at fault for car accidents they were injured in, keep reading on our website.