NEGLIGENCE IN A CAR ACCIDENT

What is Negligence in Car Accidents

Negligence is the main element for proving fault in car accidents. Normally being negligent would mean that the person has behaved in careless or thoughtless manner, and such action has caused some injury to another person. Negligence can be doing some action that was not supposed to be done, or failing to perform certain required actions.

According to law, a driver has to use sufficient care to avoid injuring others, including pedestrians, other motorists, passengers in the vehicle, or anybody on the road. When the driver does not exercise enough caution and injures someone then he or she is held liable for the negligent behavior.

Proving Negligence

In a personal injury claim involving a traffic accident, the injured party must prove that the defendant was negligent. For doing this, the injured party or plaintiff has to prove that the driver breached or violated the duty of care as mandated by law. When there is any specific violation of traffic rules or laws then it becomes easy to prove negligence. For example, when the driver has run a red light, or was driving beyond the speed limit, the negligence is quite clear.

However, even when there is no specific violation of traffic rules, then the prosecution has to show the driver did not behave in a manner expected of a reasonable person, or did not take a reasonable course of action. The law expects drivers to exercise reasonable care, which is referred to as duty of reasonable care. These duties include:

Being vigilant and keeping a lookout for road hazards, pedestrians and other vehicles
Maintaining control over the vehicle
Maintaining the vehicle in sufficient working order
Driving at reasonable speeds
Knowing Your surroundings

If you’ve been injured in a car wreck, due to another driver’s negligence, contact the attorneys at Taylor King Law, and allow us to be on your side, and by your side.