Motor Vehicle Litigation

When a claim for liability is litigated then it is necessary to make a complaint. The defendant is entitled to respond to the complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that should a jury find you to be at fault for an accident the damages you incur will be reduced according to your percentage of fault. This rule does not apply to the owners of vehicles that are that are leased or rented to minors.

Duty of Care

In a lawsuit for negligence the plaintiff must show that the defendant owed them a duty to act with reasonable care. Nearly everyone owes this obligation to everyone else, however individuals who get behind the steering wheel of a motor vehicle have an even higher duty to other people in their field of operation. This includes not causing car accidents.

In courtrooms, the standards of care are determined by comparing an individual's conduct to what a normal person would do in similar circumstances. Expert witnesses are often required in cases involving medical negligence. Experts who have a greater understanding of the field could be held to a greater standard of treatment.

A breach of a person's duty of care could cause harm to a victim or their property. The victim has to show that the defendant's infringement of their duty resulted in the harm and damages they suffered. Causation is an important part of any negligence claim. It requires proving both the proximate and real causes of the injuries and damages.

If a driver is caught running an intersection, they are likely to be struck by a vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they will be responsible for the repairs. The cause of a crash could be caused by a brick cut which develops into an infection.

Breach of Duty

A defendant's breach of duty is the second aspect of negligence that has to be proved in order to secure compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty occurs when the at-fault party's actions aren't in line with what reasonable people would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance, has a variety of professional obligations to his patients based on state law and licensing boards. Drivers are obliged to protect other motorists and pedestrians, as well as to respect traffic laws. If a driver violates this duty and causes an accident is accountable for the injuries of the victim.

Lawyers can use the "reasonable persons" standard to show that there is a duty to be cautious and then prove that the defendant did not adhere to this standard with his actions. The jury will determine if the defendant met or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the defendant's negligence was the sole cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. For instance an individual defendant could have crossed a red light, but it's likely that his or her actions was not the sole cause of your bike crash. The issue of causation is often challenged in cases of crash by defendants.

Causation

In yreka motor vehicle accident lawsuit vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and his or her injuries. If a plaintiff suffered a neck injury in a rear-end collision, his or her attorney would argue that the collision caused the injury. Other factors that contributed to the collision, like being in a stationary car is not culpable and will not affect the jury's determination of the cause of the accident.

It may be harder to establish a causal link between a negligent action and the psychological issues of the plaintiff. It could be because the plaintiff has a troubled past, a poor relationship with their parents, or has used alcohol or Vimeo drugs.

If you have been in an accident that is serious to your vehicle, it is important to consult with an experienced attorney. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury cases, business and commercial litigation and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have built working relationships with independent doctors in a variety of specialties, as well as experts in computer simulations and accident reconstruction.

Damages

The damages a plaintiff can recover in motor vehicle litigation can include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages is all costs that can easily be summed up and calculated as a total, such as medical treatment as well as lost wages, repairs to property, and even financial loss, for instance diminished earning capacity.

New York law also recognizes the right to recover non-economic damages, including the suffering of others and the 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 from family members and friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, courts will typically apply the rules of comparative fault to determine the amount of total damages to be split between them. This requires the jury to determine how much responsibility each defendant incurred in the accident and to then divide the total damages awarded by that percentage of the fault. However, Vimeo New York law 1602 specifically excludes owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule with respect to injuries sustained by the driver of the vehicles. The resulting analysis of whether the presumption of permissive usage is applicable is a bit nebulous and typically only a clear showing that the owner was explicitly refused permission to operate the vehicle will be able to overcome it.