Proving Liability in a New York City Car Accident
While car accidents and injuries will always be unique, and although claims will always vary, the fact remains that injured victims deserve to be fairly compensated. In order for victims of car accidents to have a fighting chance for the compensation they rightfully deserve, they must prove several important legal elements – including negligence, fault, and liability.
By focusing our efforts on establishing fault and liability, our legal team can work toward securing fair compensation on behalf of our clients. We do so by focusing on proving the following:
- Another party had a duty to keep you free from preventable harm. For example, motorists are required to take reasonable measures to drive safely and keep others free from preventable harm. Auto part manufacturers are required to ensure that their products are safe for their intended use. These are legal duties.
- This party failed to uphold their duty. For example, drivers who commit an act of negligence (such as drunk driving) fail to uphold their duty to drive safely.
- This failure caused harm. Failures to uphold duty caused preventable harm.
- You suffered damages as a result. Victims suffer physical, emotional, and / or financial damages as a direct result of the accident.
Who’s at Fault in a Failure to Yield Accident?
When a failure to yield accident happens, the person at fault is generally the individual who didn’t follow the rules of the road, posted street signs, or traffic lights.
The at-fault party may be the driver of a vehicle that failed to stop at a stop sign and allow other cars to go first.
An at-fault party may even be a car that failed to yield right of way to a pedestrian crossing the road in a crosswalk and had a walk signal.
To determine who was at fault in a failure to yield accident, you must first evaluate who violated the law and which individual had the right of way.
Who’s at Fault in a Head-On Collision?
In a head-on collision, the at-fault party is the driver who veered into oncoming traffic or swerved into the wrong lane.
If the accident happened at an intersection, the driver at fault would be the individual who failed to follow laws or road signs indicating who should go first.
Head-on collisions are often the result of driving while intoxicated when the at-fault driver swerves across the middle yellow line.
Drivers who fail to take proper care in inclement weather would be at fault, even if snow, ice, fog, or other conditions resulted in the head-on crash.
Victims of head-on collisions often suffer severe injuries because of the sudden jolt of a frontal impact and airbag deployment.
Who’s at Fault in a Rear-End Collision?
In most cases, the person responsible for a rear-end collision is the car at the very end of a crash. Legally, drivers should ensure enough space between their vehicle and the vehicle in front of them. This applies to inclement weather situations and when the car in front stops quickly.
If the roads are slick from ice or rain, drivers should make sure there is extra space between their cars and the cars in front of them to prevent a rear-end collision.
There are some exceptions, such as when a car hits a driver from behind and then pushes that car into another car in front of them.
The middle car would not likely be held accountable for the rear-end collision that the car behind it forced.
Who’s at Fault in a Distracted Driving Accident?
The fault in a distracted driving accident always lies with the driver who was distracted at the time of the collision. Distracted driving may happen because someone is texting while driving or undertaking other activities when they should be paying attention to the road.
Other common distractions include eating, putting on makeup, adjusting the radio or GPS, talking to passengers, or looking at social media on an electronic device.
It can be hard to prove distracted driving, so it’s essential to work with a lawyer who can review phone records, traffic cameras, police reports and talk to eyewitnesses who may have seen something important.
Who’s at Fault in a Side Impact Collision?
A side-impact collision, also called a sideswipe accident, is the person’s fault who violates a law or swerves out of their lane into another car. This often happens on two-lane roads or highways when a driver attempts to switch lanes.
Illegal lane changes may happen when a driver fails to see the other car in their blind spot or doesn’t even look beside them. Side impact motorcycle accidents often happen when a motor vehicle driver fails to look out properly.
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