Proving Fault in Personal Injury Accidents Determining legal liability after an accident that resulted in personal injury can be a complicated process. Often, who is at fault will come down to who demonstrated the most negligence. The “rule of carelessness” states that the individual which showed the greater level of carelessness will be held accountable, or at fault, for the accident. However, there are a number of other factors to be taken in to consideration.
Duty and Negligence First, it is meaningful to know whether the injured person was somewhere they should not have been. If the injured plaintiff was somewhere where he or she should have expected the kind of activity which caused the accident, the person who caused the accident may, in fact, have had no “duty” to be careful towards the injured person. “Duty” of a driver in normal conditions includes things like driving at a reasonable speed, vigilance in keeping a proper lookout, and maintaining control of the car. Violation of “duty” imposed by state law includes driving under the influence, violating right-of-way, and driving on the wrong side of the road. Second, comparative negligence must be determined. As in, if the injured plaintiff also showed carelessness, their compensation may be reduced considerably. For example, if a person abruptly slams on their breaks, causing a rear-end collision, comparative negligence may be found. A percentage of the compensation will be subtracted from the amount that would have been due to the breaking driver for the accident had no comparative negligence been found. Third, if the negligent person causes the accident while working for an employer, the employer may also be held responsible. Meaning, if a UPS driver causes an accident while on route, UPS may be held accountable, in addition to the driver.
Property and Products Fourth, if the accident occurs on property that is deemed to be poorly built or maintained, and thus dangerous, the owner of the property will be held responsible. This fault is found irrespective of whether or not the owner was aware of or created the dangerous condition. Such an incident may be found if a person were to slip and fall on an individual’s, or business’s walkway due to icy conditions. The property owner will be held responsible for the negligence to maintain the walkway with an ice melt.
Finally, in the case of an accident being caused by a defective product, both the manufacturer and seller are liable. Regardless of whether or not the injured person knows which was careless in creating or allowing the defective product, or how it became defective. Meaning, if the plaintiff purchased an aerosol hairspray from a local grocery store and the can was defective in some way causing an explosion resulting in injury; both the manufacturer and the local grocery store will be held liable. The plaintiff does not need to know specifically whether it was the local grocery stores handling of the product, or the manufactures carelessness which caused to product to be defective. Young and Young Law is an injury attorney practicing in Provo, Utah. Allen K. Young and Tyler S. Young, have over 45 years of combined experience specializing as injury attorneys in Utah.