Personal injury claims, such as a claim brought against a driver after a car accident, are based on negligence.
Establishing negligence requires proving four different elements:
- Duty
- Breach
- Causation
- Damages
Duty and breach
Duty means the duty of care you are owed. In the car accident example, the other driver owed you a duty of care to drive safely and reasonably.
Breach means the duty was not met. Examples of breaching a duty in a car accident include speeding, failing to stop at a stop light or driving while distracted or intoxicated.
There are two different types of causation you must prove. Actual cause means that the accident and your injuries would have occurred except for this breach.
Proximate cause is based on foreseeability. You must show that the injuries and/or damage you sustained were reasonably foreseeable from the breach of duty.
Proving your damages
Negligence requires some type of harm or damage. You must prove that you have suffered some form of harm, usually injuries, from the accident.
There are several types of damage. Physical injuries are a common type of damage, but your damage could also come in the form of lost wages, mental anguish or pain and suffering.
Negligence laws vary by state. Illinois follows a modified comparative negligence law.
This means that the amount of damages could be reduced depending on your own level of negligence. You could be prevented from recovering any damages if your negligence is found to be 50% or higher.
How modified comparative negligence could impact your compensation
For example, perhaps you file a personal injury claim after a car accident and assert you were injured because the other driver ran a stop light and smashed into you.
The other driver may defend themselves by claiming that even if they ran the stop light, you were driving 10 miles per hour over the speed limit and talking on your phone and this caused you to be unable to slow down in time to prevent the crash.
Competing negligence claims are common in car accident cases. The court must carefully examine all evidence and apportion a percentage of fault to each driver.
Damages are then awarded accordingly. In the above scenario, if a court finds that you were 75% responsible for the accident because of your speeding and distraction and the other driver was 25% responsible for running the red light, you will not receive any compensation because your percentage of fault is over 50%.
However, if you are found to be less than 50% responsible, the amount of compensation you request will be reduced. If you requested $200,000 in compensation and are found to be 25% responsible for the accident, you would recover compensation of $150,000.
Having the strongest possible evidence matters
Recovering the maximum amount of your damages depends on having strong evidence showing that your negligence was little to none. You should begin gathering evidence at the accident scene itself.
Police reports, witness statements, photographs of injuries and camera surveillance footage of the accident are evidence that can help you prove your case. Depending on your situation, you might need to use an expert, such as an accident reconstruction specialist, to help you prove your case.