Involved In A Car Accident? Know What Determines Who Is At Fault
If you were involved in an auto accident with another vehicle, one of the challenges that you'll need to deal with is to determine who is at fault. That's because the person that caused the accident will be responsible for paying for the other person's property damage and medical bills. If the person at fault for causing the accident is not as clear-cut as it could be, here are some things that are considered when determining fault.
The Traffic Laws That Were Broken
The purpose of having traffic laws is to prevent accidents from happening. That's why it is common for a person that caused the accident to break the traffic laws in some way. This could include someone that went through a red light or stop sign, was driving over the local speed limit, or made an illegal turn. If you can demonstrate that the other driver broke a traffic law, the odds will be in your favor of not being at fault.
The Way The Person Was Driving
You also need to look at how both people were driving their vehicles at the time of the accident. There may be factors that caused a person to be distracted behind the wheel, or not be as responsible as they could be in regard to other vehicles. A common cause of distracted driving is using a cell phone while driving. If they had their eyes on the screen instead of the road, it would be easier to prove that they were at fault for causing the accident. Being under the influence of drugs or alcohol is another big factor if you can prove it, which will involve having a police officer come to the accident site to test the other driver.
The Road Conditions
Road conditions are going to alter how a person should have been driving, which means that being more cautious could have prevented the accident from happening. For example, if the road conditions were very icy outside, a person would need to drive slower and give themselves more space to come to a complete stop. It is up to the driver of a vehicle to alter their driving behavior based on road conditions for the safety of others.
These are just a few ways that fault can be determined when filing a lawsuit for an auto accident. Reach out to an accident lawyer in your area that specializes in auto accidents for their expertise on these types of cases.
