15 Surprising Stats About Motor Vehicle Legal
Motor Vehicle Litigation
A lawsuit is necessary when liability is in dispute. The defendant then has the opportunity to respond to the complaint.
motor vehicle accident law firm oklahoma follows pure comparative fault rules and, if the jury finds you to be at fault for causing the crash the damages awarded to you will be reduced by your percentage of negligence. There is an exception to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes owners of vehicles rented or leased by minors.
Duty of Care
In a case of negligence the plaintiff must show that the defendant owed the duty of care towards them. This duty is due to all, but those who operate a vehicle have an even greater duty to other people in their field. This includes not causing motor vehicle accidents.
In courtrooms the standards of care are determined by comparing the actions of an individual with what a normal person would do in similar circumstances. In the case of medical malpractice, expert witnesses are usually required. Experts with more experience in a certain field may be held to a higher standard of care.
If someone violates their duty of care, it may cause injury to the victim or their property. The victim is then required to establish that the defendant's breach of their duty led to the injury and damages that they sustained. Causation is a crucial element of any negligence claim. It involves proving both the primary and secondary causes of the damage and injury.
If someone is driving through the stop sign then they are more likely to be struck by a vehicle. If their car is damaged, they'll be required to pay for repairs. But the actual cause of the crash might be a cut in a brick that later develops into a potentially dangerous infection.
Breach of Duty
The second element of negligence is the breach of duty committed by an individual defendant. The breach of duty must be proved in order to be awarded compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty happens when the actions of the party at fault are not in line with what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.
A doctor, for example is a professional with a range of professional duties towards his patients, which stem from the law of the state and licensing authorities. Motorists have a duty of care to other motorists and pedestrians to be safe and follow traffic laws. A driver who breaches this obligation and results in an accident is responsible for the injuries of the victim.
A lawyer can use "reasonable people" standard to show that there is a duty of prudence and then show that the defendant did not comply with the standard in his actions. The jury will determine if the defendant met or did not meet the standard.
The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the breach of duty by the defendant was the direct cause of the plaintiff's injuries. This is sometimes more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty and breach. For instance an individual defendant could have been a motorist who ran a red light, but the action was not the primary cause of the crash. The issue of causation is often challenged in case of a crash by the defendants.
Causation
In motor vehicle accidents, the plaintiff must prove a causal link between the breach of the defendant and the injuries. For example, if the plaintiff suffered neck injuries as a result of a rear-end collision the lawyer could argue that the collision was the cause of the injury. Other factors that are necessary to cause the collision, like being in a stationary car are not culpable and will not affect the jury's determination of the degree of fault.
It could be more difficult to establish a causal connection between a negligent act and the plaintiff's psychological symptoms. The fact that the plaintiff had an uneasy childhood, a bad relationship with their parents, abused alcohol and drugs or prior unemployment could have a influence on the severity of the psychological issues is suffering from following an accident, but courts typically consider these factors as part of the context that caused the accident in which the plaintiff arose rather than an independent reason for the injuries.
If you have been in an accident that is serious to your vehicle, it is important to speak with an experienced attorney. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury cases, business and commercial litigation, as well as motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have formed working relationships with independent physicians in a variety of areas of expertise as well as expert witnesses in computer simulations and reconstruction of accidents.
Damages
In motor vehicle litigation, a person can be able to recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first category of damages encompasses all monetary costs which are easily added together and summed up into a total, for example, medical treatments and lost wages, repairs to property, and even financial losses, such as loss of earning capacity.
New York law also recognizes the right to seek non-economic damages like suffering and pain, as well as loss of enjoyment of life which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. These damages must be established by a wide array of evidence, including depositions of family members and friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.
In cases where there are multiple defendants, Courts will often use the concept of comparative negligence to decide the proportion of damages award should be allocated between them. This requires the jury to determine how much responsibility each defendant was at fault for the accident and then divide the total damages award by that percentage of fault. However, New York law 1602 exempts owners of vehicles from the rule of comparative negligence in the event of injuries sustained by the drivers of trucks or cars. The process to determine if the presumption is permissive is complex. Most of the time, only a clear demonstration that the owner refused permission for the driver to operate the vehicle can overcome the presumption.