livonia motor vehicle accident law firm Vehicle Litigation

When a claim for liability is litigated, it becomes necessary to file a lawsuit. The defendant will then have the chance to respond to the complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that, when a jury finds you to be responsible for an accident and you are found to be at fault, your damages will be reduced based on your percentage of fault. This rule does not apply to owners of vehicles that are leased or rented to minors.

Duty of Care

In a lawsuit for negligence the plaintiff must show that the defendant was obligated to exercise reasonable care. This duty is owed to all people, however those who operate vehicles owe an even greater duty to other people in their field. This includes ensuring that they don't cause car accidents.

Courtrooms assess an individual's actions with what a normal person would do in similar circumstances to determine a reasonable standard of care. In the event of medical negligence experts are often required. Experts who are knowledgeable in a particular field can be held to a higher standard of care than others in similar situations.

A breach of a person's duty of care may cause harm to a victim, or their property. The victim must prove that the defendant breached their obligation and caused the damage or damage they sustained. Causation is an essential element of any negligence claim. It requires proof of both the actual and proximate causes of the damage and injury.

For example, if someone has a red light and is stopped, they will be hit by a vehicle. If their vehicle is damaged, they will be responsible for the repairs. But the actual cause of the crash could be a cut from the brick, which then develops into a deadly infection.

Breach of Duty

A defendant's breach of duty is the second aspect of negligence that has to be proved in order to receive compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty happens when the actions of the party at fault do not match what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.

For example, a doctor has several professional obligations to his patients, arising from laws of the state and licensing boards. Drivers have a duty to protect other motorists as well as pedestrians, and to adhere to traffic laws. A driver who breaches this duty and causes an accident is accountable for the injuries suffered by the victim.

A lawyer may use the "reasonable individuals" standard to establish that there is a duty of care and Vimeo then prove that the defendant failed to meet this standard in his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant met or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also prove that the breach of duty of the defendant was the proximate cause of his or her injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. For instance an individual defendant could have been a motorist who ran a red light, but it's likely that his or her actions wasn't the proximate reason for your bicycle crash. For this reason, causation is often challenged by defendants in collision cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle cases, the plaintiff has to establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and his or her injuries. If the plaintiff sustained a neck injury in a rear-end accident and his or her attorney would argue that the accident caused the injury. Other factors that are necessary to cause the collision, such as being in a stationary vehicle, are not culpable, and do not affect the jury's determination of the liability.

For psychological injuries, however, the link between an act of negligence and an injured plaintiff's symptoms may be more difficult to establish. It may be the case that the plaintiff has a rocky background, a strained relationship with their parents, or has been a user of alcohol or Vimeo drugs.

If you have been in an accident that is serious to your vehicle it is essential to consult with an experienced attorney. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP have years of experience representing clients in personal injury, commercial and business litigation, and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have formed working relationships with independent doctors in a wide range of specialties as well as expert witnesses in accidents reconstruction and computer simulations, as well as with private investigators.

Damages

The damages that plaintiffs can claim in a motor vehicle lawsuit include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages includes the costs of monetary value that can be easily added together and calculated as a total, for example, medical treatments or lost wages, repair to property, or even a future financial losses, such as diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages like suffering and pain, and loss of enjoyment of living are not able to be reduced to cash. These damages must be established through extensive evidence like depositions of family members or friends of the plaintiff medical records, depositions, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases where there are multiple defendants, Courts will often use comparative negligence rules to determine how much of the damages award should be allocated between them. The jury has to determine the amount of fault each defendant carries for the accident and then divide the total amount of damages awarded by that percentage. However, New York law 1602 disqualifies vehicle owners from the comparative negligence rule in cases where injuries are sustained by drivers of trucks or cars. The process of determining whether the presumption of permissiveness is complicated. In general, only a clear demonstration that the owner refused permission to the driver to operate the vehicle will overcome the presumption.