Liability is a fancy legal term for who or what is at fault in a car accident. Essentially, you are liable for an accident if you are found to responsible for directly causing or contributing to the cause of an accident.
Who Determines Liability?
It may be a surprise that insurance companies, and not police officers, are primarily responsible for determining who is liable in a car accident. Police officers take statements from witnesses and from those involved in the accident, and they file police reports. Police reports can go a long way in assisting a car insurance company in ultimately determining who is at fault in a car accident.
How Does the Liability Determination Process Work?
Typically a car accident involves two or more individuals, all of whom have car insurance. These car insurance companies will work together to determine precisely who is at fault, and for how much of the accident.
To decide who is at fault, insurance carriers consider four primary factors:
- The Duty of the Driver – Every driver is expected to follow certain well-known rules of the road, watch out for others, and avoid accidents when possible. Each state has established rules of the road that all drivers must learn when first getting their drivers license. These rules must be followed at all times, and are a primary duty of a driver. Driver duties also include, as we’ve mentioned, watching out, or paying attention at all times. It also means trying to avoid an accident, so if, for example, a driver runs a red light, and comes into opposing traffic, you must still attempt to avoid a collision.
- Breaking these Duties – If you break any of these previous duties, you will be found at fault. This step in determining liability is also known as “breach.”
- Causation – did the breach of the driver’s duties actually cause the accident? You may have failed to signal that you were changing lanes, but did that breach cause the accident that occurred in the lanes right in front of you at that moment?
- Damages – There must be damage to property or persons for there to be fault in an accident. This damage must be directly related to the breach in the driver’s duty. So again, if a driver fails to stop a red light, breaching their duty, and then slams into your car, the resulting damage to your car and injuries to your person are considered part of the damages portion of liability determinations.
If these standards are met, and you’re found liable, a carrier must also determine to what extent you were liable.
Getting Help
If questions of liability come up, then you need to consult with an experienced car accident attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney can help you gather the evidence you need in order to prove the other driver was at fault so you can collect your damages.
