Why You Should Concentrate On Improving Motor Vehicle Legal
Motor Vehicle Litigation
When a claim for liability is litigated in court, it becomes necessary to file a lawsuit. The defendant will then be given the chance to respond to the complaint.
New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that if a jury finds you to be at fault for an accident the amount of damages you will be reduced based on your percentage of fault. There is one exception to this rule: CPLR SS 1602 excludes owners of vehicles rented or leased by minors.
Duty of Care
In a case of negligence, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant owed the duty of care towards them. The majority of people owe this obligation to everyone else, however those who take the wheel of a motor vehicle have an even higher duty to others in their area of activity. This includes not causing accidents in motor vehicles.
Courtrooms evaluate an individual's behavior to what a typical individual would do under the same conditions to determine an acceptable standard of care. This is why expert witnesses are frequently required in cases involving medical negligence. Experts who are knowledgeable of a specific area may also be held to an higher standard of care than others in similar situations.
If someone violates their duty of care, they could cause harm to the victim and/or their property. The victim must prove that the defendant's breach of duty caused the harm and damages they sustained. Causation proof is a crucial aspect of any negligence case which involves considering both the actual cause of the injury or damages as well as the cause of the injury or damage.
For instance, if someone runs a red stop sign and is stopped, they'll be hit by a car. If their vehicle is damaged, they'll be accountable for the repairs. The actual cause of an accident could be a brick cut that develops into an infection.
Breach of Duty
A defendant's breach of duty is the second element of negligence that needs to be proved in order to secure compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty is when the actions of the at-fault party do not match what an ordinary person would do under similar circumstances.
For instance, a physician has a variety of professional obligations to his patients, arising from state law and licensing boards. Drivers are required to be considerate of other drivers and pedestrians, and obey traffic laws. If a driver violates this duty of care and causes an accident, he is liable for the victim's injuries.
Lawyers can use the "reasonable persons" standard to prove that there is a duty of prudence and then show that the defendant did not adhere to the standard in his actions. It is a matter of fact for the jury to decide if the defendant met the standard or not.
The plaintiff must also establish that the breach of duty of the defendant was the main cause of the injuries. motor vehicle accident attorney texas can be more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant could have run through a red light but that wasn't what caused the accident on your bicycle. The issue of causation is often challenged in cases of crash by defendants.
Causation
In motor vehicle cases, the plaintiff has to establish a causal link between the defendant's breach of duty and the injuries. For instance, if the plaintiff suffered neck injuries as a result of an accident that involved rear-ends and his or her lawyer might argue that the accident caused the injury. Other factors that are necessary to cause the collision, like being in a stationary car is not culpable and won't affect the jury's decision to determine the degree of fault.
For psychological injuries, however, the link between a negligent act and an injured plaintiff's symptoms may be more difficult to establish. The fact that the plaintiff had troubles in his or her childhood, had a difficult relationship with his or her parents, was a user of alcohol and drugs or had previous unemployment may have some influence on the severity the psychological issues he or suffers from following a crash, but the courts typically consider these factors as part of the circumstances that led to the accident from which the plaintiff's injury occurred, rather than as an independent reason for the injuries.
It is important to consult an experienced attorney if you have been involved in a serious motor accident. The attorneys 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 built working relationships with independent physicians in many specialties, as well experts in computer simulations and reconstruction of accidents.
Damages
The damages plaintiffs can claim in a motor vehicle lawsuit include both economic and non-economic damages. The first category of damages covers any monetary costs that are easily added up and calculated as an amount, like medical expenses loss of wages, property repair and even future financial losses, like a decrease in earning capacity.
New York law recognizes that non-economic damages like suffering and pain, as well as loss of enjoyment are not able to be reduced to monetary value. These damages must be established through extensive evidence such as depositions of family members and friends of the plaintiff medical records, depositions, or other expert witness testimony.
In the event of multiple defendants, courts typically use the comparative fault rule to determine the amount of total damages to be divided between them. The jury must determine the percentage of blame each defendant carries for the incident, and divide the total damages awarded by the same percentage. New York law however, does not permit this. 1602 specifically exempts owners of vehicles from the comparative fault rule when it comes to injuries sustained by drivers of the vehicles. The subsequent analysis of whether the presumption of permissive usage applies is complicated and usually only a convincing evidence that the owner has explicitly denied permission to operate the car will be sufficient to overcome it.