General Rules to Note When Proving Fault in Personal Injury Accidents
In Pennsylvania, proving fault in a personal injury accident requires showing 4 negligence elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. Evidence like police reports, medical records, photos, and witness statements helps establish liability, including shared fault. This article outlines the general rules and approaches for proving fault when multiple parties may be responsible.
Determining liability for an injury in an accident can be a complex process. It usually depends on whether someone acted carelessly. It is not just about pinning the blame on the person you believe is at fault. You have to prove to the courts in Pennsylvania that the person actually, and by law, is at fault.
“Circumstances such as proving fault when more than one person or a company is at fault require different approaches and processes,” says Jeffrey P. Lowenthal of Lowenthal & Abrams, Injury Attorneys. This article explores the core principles of establishing fault in personal injury accidents and discusses what happens when the injured party shares some responsibility. Continue reading to understand how fault impacts claims.
How to Determine Liability in Legal Terms
Under PA law, the less careful person in an accident is often at fault and is liable for damages. The law states that the less careful person is to cover a substantial portion of the damages suffered by the more careful one.
Accident liability gets determined by a combination of rules of negligence and one or more of the following rules:
- Trespassing and Assumption of the Risk
This situation occurs when a person gets injured in a location they were not supposed to be in to start with. It also applies when the injured party must assume a level of danger caused by the accident. Under Pennsylvania law, the assumption of risk doctrine holds that a supposedly liable person may not actually be liable. That is because the person liable for the accident injuries does not have a legal duty of care to the injured person.
- Comparative Negligence
If both parties share liability, the compensation gets split. This arrangement ensures a fair share of compensation between both sides.
- Employer Liability for Employee Negligence
This situation is where a careless person is responsible for an accident while employed by another person or company. It’s more commonly referred to as “respondeat superior” in legal language, and it translates to “let the superior answer.”
- Dangerous Property Conditions
An accident can occur on a property deemed dangerous due to poorly built or inadequately maintained facilities on-site. In cases like these, the owner can be responsible for negligence in maintaining their property. This situation occurs even when the property owner did not directly create the circumstances that led to the incident.
- Liability for Defective Products
Defective products affect manufacturers and sellers, as both parties are legally responsible for injuries that the product may cause. It may be the case even when the injured party is unaware of the seller or manufacturer. Most people know them as product liability claims.
When More Than One Person is Liable
In Pennsylvania, if more than one person is responsible for an accident, the injured party must seek compensation from multiple liable parties. To legal professionals, this concept is known as joint and several liability.
This rule offers numerous advantages. Firstly, if only one of the individuals responsible for the accident has insurance, the victim can file a claim only against that person. The responsible parties can then agree among themselves on how to share the cost of compensation. The injured party is also likely to receive some compensation for damages.
The second scenario is also quite similar. When both liable parties have insurance, the injured party can again file a claim with one of the insurers. Both insurance parties then settle their financial differences between themselves.
How Your Fault Affects Your Claim
In many states, you can get compensation from other responsible parties for an accident even if you are partly at fault. This situation becomes possible once all liable parties calculate the total amount owed. If their liability is higher than yours, they must pay you for being more careless than you are. It is called the comparative negligence rule.
Conclusion
If you need help with the legal terms, facts, and rules mentioned in this article, you should consider consulting a Pennsylvania lawyer with personal injury case experience. They will guide you towards the appropriate outcome for your claim.
