California personal injury laws award compensation to victims of personal injuries whose damages result from another party's negligence. However, questions often arise on what would happen if the victim was partially or fully responsible for the accident in which they sustained injuries. Situations like these are covered under comparative negligence laws, whereby judges award only the share of fault for which the other party is responsible. California comparative negligence law allows accident victims to recover losses even when they are fully or partially responsible for the accident. This article will help you understand how this statute works and how fault is determined in cases like these. Contact a competent car accident lawyer for more information and legal assistance in recovering your damages.
Understanding California Comparative Negligence Law
Car accidents happen due to several reasons. The cause of an accident helps determine fault when injured victims seek compensation for their damages. Sometimes responsibility falls on the other driver, and other times the vehicle manufacturer or the company responsible for vehicle repair and maintenance. The most important part of a personal injury case is determining the party responsible for the accident. The next important part is to establish whether the party was negligent in causing the victim’s injuries. If so, victims of that accident are allowed by law to file a lawsuit against the defendant in a civil court for compensation.
Some car accidents are caused by one factor, while others by several factors. When several factors are involved, it is possible to find more than one party taking the blame for the accident. Sometimes part of or the entire responsibility falls on the accident victim. The civil court uses a special law under the personal injury lawyer to determine fault and award compensation to the victim.
Comparative negligence law offers a solution whereby the injured victim can collect compensation for their losses even when they are partly liable for the crash. For instance, if you are 30% to blame for your damages, you will only receive 70% of the compensation you deserve from the alleged defendant.
California is among the states that follow the pure comparative negligence law in the country. It means that car accident victims will still recover damages even though they are 99% responsible for their damages. That is different from modified comparative negligence states, whereby plaintiffs only recover losses if they are less than 50% responsible for their injuries.
When a case like this is presented before a jury, the jury decides the share of fault for all responsible parties in the accident. Each party is held accountable for its share of responsibility, including the victim. Thus, the victim recovers compensation, only that they do not recover total compensation since they are partly responsible for the accident.
Comparative negligence law applies to most personal injury lawsuits in California, including car and bicycle accidents, premise liabilities, slip and falls, product liability cases, and medical malpractices.
When you are injured in a car accident, you deserve total compensation for your damages to recover money spent on medical bills, personal needs, and other monetary and non-monetary needs that result from the accident. Compensation also helps you cater to your future needs until you fully recover from the accident.
Thus, victims of car accidents mostly fight for 100% compensation. However, you only recover total compensation if another party was entirely responsible for the accident. If you played a part in causing the accident, the jury would find a way to share the fault among all parties accountable. Your damages will be reduced depending on your percentage of fault.
Determining Percentage of Fault in Comparative Negligence Cases
Negligence is the basis of all personal injury lawsuits in California. Thus, it is the first thing you need to prove when seeking compensation for your injuries. The court will look at the evidence you present in court and listen to your arguments to make the final decision. Once the court agrees that the accident occurred due to another party's negligence and accepts the party you name as responsible for your injuries, it will order the defendant to compensate you for all your damages.
The jury decides on negligence and responsibility in personal injury lawsuits. The jury makes the final decision after deliberating on the evidence presented by the plaintiff and the defendant. As earlier mentioned, the plaintiff will seek 100% compensation through the lawsuit. The defendant can counter the plaintiff's claim if they feel that the victim was also responsible for the accident. The liable party must prove the following facts to do that:
- That the victim was also negligent in causing the accident
- The victim's negligence was a significant element in causing his/her injuries
If the liable party can prove those facts, the court will hold the plaintiff partly responsible for the accident. Thus, the plaintiff will only receive part of the damages, not 100% of the injuries claimed in the lawsuit.
But, that is usually not enough to determine the share of fault for each defendant. The jury must share responsibility among the parties responsible, including the plaintiff, until it achieves the 100% mark.
In that case, the court will determine the total damages incurred by the plaintiff in the accident. It will help determine the total loss the plaintiff suffered. The court will then determine the various factors that led to the accident. Each of these factors is allocated its percentage based on its severity and extent of contribution to the accident. Finally, the share of fault for all defendants is determined based on the contributing factors.
Example: Mary hits and injures a 2-year-old boy as she cycles on her bike in the neighborhood. She stops to help the boy up and even offers to cover his medical expenses. However, the boy's mother decides to file a lawsuit for compensation against Mary.
Mary's lawyer discovers that the mother was not watching the boy at the time during the accident investigation. The boy was playing right in the middle of the road. Mary was racing down the road and was not expecting to find a baby playing on the road. That is how the accident occurred.
The jury finds both Mary and the boy's mother equally responsible for the boy's injuries. In that case, the boy's mother can only recover 50% of the total damages.
Comparative Negligence is Different From Contributory Negligence
California started as a contributory negligence state. In contributory negligence standard, a plaintiff cannot recover any damages if they were at fault for the accident, however small their contribution was. This standard denies many accident victims the opportunity to recover damages from personal injuries. But the standard was changed by the state Supreme Court in 1975, terming it unfair. A comparative negligence standard replaced it.
Under this new standard, plaintiffs can recover damages even if they are partly to blame for the accident. Most states follow the comparative negligence standard, either modified or pure comparative. Some states still follow the contributory negligence standard. It is a rather harsh rule that bars plaintiffs from claiming compensation if they were negligent in causing their injuries. For instance, if a plaintiff is 20% at fault for an accident in which they are injured, they have no right to claim compensation under the contributory negligence standard even when the other party is 80% to blame. The plaintiff will still not be eligible for compensation even if they were only 1% responsible for their injuries.
Example: Timothy has always been a curious boy. Growing up, his mother was always watching him, ensuring that he did not get into trouble. But now, as an adult, he has to take care of himself. Timothy's curious nature has already landed him into trouble several times, more so with the law.
The other day, Timothy's attention was drawn to a closed construction site that was marked 'dangerous.' He only wanted to see what was going on there, and nobody was around to stop him. But, he was not lucky this time around. He accidentally knocked on a beam supporting several others, and they all came tumbling down on him. Timothy suffered severe fractures in his hands and feet.
A civil court later finds the construction company negligent in causing Timothy’s injuries. But Timothy is also 20% to blame for his injuries. Sadly, he cannot recover any compensation for his damages under the contributory negligence law. But he could recover 80% of his damages if he files a civil suit in California.
What Happens When You Are Primarily At Fault for Your Injuries
The comparative negligence standard has two main divisions: modified and pure comparative negligence.
California follows pure comparative negligence in which plaintiffs can recover part of the compensation if they are partly responsible for their injuries. Additionally, you can still recover some damages even if you are primarily at fault for your injuries, reduced by your responsibility.
States that follow modified comparative negligence follow a strict rule known as the 50% or 51% rule. The 50% rule allows plaintiffs to collect damages only if they are 50% or less responsible for the accident. If you are 52% to blame for the accident, you will not be eligible for compensation, even when another party is 48% to blame for your injuries. Nevada is one of the states that follow a 50% rule of the modified comparative negligence standard.
The 51% rule does not allow plaintiffs to claim compensation if 51% or more are responsible for their injuries. This rule works the same as the 50% rule, only that the share of fault allowed for the plaintiff is slightly increased under this rule.
Example: James is building a treehouse for his son. A neighbor's teenage son, Zab, visits him while James is in the middle of the construction. Zab offers to help as he learns. James needs all the help he can get but is unsure whether to allow Zab to climb up the tree. It could be dangerous. He decides to assign the boy some simple tasks that he can do on the ground.
A few minutes later, James excuses himself to use the bathroom. Zab takes advantage of that to quickly climb up the tree to see how much work James has done on the treehouse. Since he is in a hurry, Zab slips and falls hard to the ground. He suffers serious head injuries.
Zab's parents file a lawsuit against James for damages. But the court finds Zab 51% responsible for his injuries. In California, Zab can recover 49% of his losses from James. But it could be different in states that follow modified comparative negligence. States like Nevada that follow the 51% rule will award compensation to Zab's family, but the family will not receive compensation if their state follows a 50% rule.
Comparative Negligence and Vehicle Accident Cases
Most vehicle accident cases involve comparative negligence. It is mainly because more than one party is involved and a possibility of more than one cause of the accident. Some vehicle accidents where comparative negligence is applied include:
- DUI-related vehicle accidents
- Bus accidents
- Head-on collision accidents
- Ridesharing car accidents
- Truck accidents
When more than one vehicle is involved in an accident, parties blame each other for the accident. Some accidents are also caused by another party, not the driver. Those other parties could include vehicle manufacturers, repair and maintenance companies, or government agencies.
When a defendant in a vehicle accident lawsuit introduces the possibility of the plaintiff being partly or primarily at fault for the crash, the jury determines the plaintiff's and defendant's percentages of responsibility in the accident. Thus, the plaintiff only recovers the other party's share of responsibility based on their total damages.
At times the defendants in an accident could also be injured. The two can seek compensation against each other for their damages. One party, the plaintiff, will file a compensation claim against the other in a civil court. The defendant, who is also a plaintiff, will file a counterclaim in this case. The court will study the evidence presented by each claimant to make the final decision. It will check each case separately to establish whether both claims are valid.
If the court concludes that the two parties are partly to blame for the accident and are both injured, it will determine the share of fault for each case separately. Each party will be assigned a share of responsibility based on their role in causing the victim's damages. Their damages could cancel each other, or parties can receive awards separately.
Example: Julian enjoys driving at night when he is likely to encounter minimal traffic. He loves the thrill of speeding off an almost empty highway. But he is not lucky one evening. Sammy is on the same road the same night with Julian, though driving from a different direction. Sammy has been working double shifts the entire week. So, he was driving while extremely exhausted and in a rush to get home to enjoy some rest. The two drivers crash into a head-on collision that leaves them with catastrophic injuries.
Sammy consults a personal injury lawyer, who advises him to file a suit against Julian for compensation. But Julian files a counterclaim against Sammy, claiming that he was speeding. The jury also finds out that Sammy was driving while fatigued, which could also have made it hard for him to drive safely.
The two drivers are partly responsible for the accident. Julian is held 60% responsible for the accident, while Sammy is held 40% responsible. In that case, Julian can pay Sammy 20% of the total damages to settle the case.
In cases where more than one party is responsible for the accident, all parties involved will be held partially accountable according to their percentages of fault. The plaintiff will receive compensation from multiple parties, totaling their total damages.
California has joint and several liability laws, allowing a plaintiff to recover compensation from more than one defendant. If two parties are held responsible for an accident, the defendant can file a lawsuit against one or both parties. The plaintiff is advised to file a claim against one party in most cases. The defendant can sue the other party to recover their contribution to the lawsuit. That saves the plaintiff's time and money and makes the process smooth.
Find a Skilled Car Accident Attorney Near Me
Are you or someone you know injured in a car accident and seek compensation for your damages in Los Angeles, CA?
Understanding comparative negligence and fault will help you file a winning lawsuit if you are partly to blame for the accident or if more than one party is responsible. Our skilled car accident lawyers at Los Angeles Car Accident Attorney have all the information you need and more to successfully help you go through the legal process. We handle all kinds of car accident lawsuits and could help you obtain a fair outcome for your situation. Call us at 424-237-3600 and let us study the details of your case.
