While car accidents can be messy experiences, the legal issues stemming from these accidents can be even more complicated. Whenever there is an accident involving clear violations of the traffic rules and safety regulations, and you need to obtain compensation through legal means, proving the fault of the challenged party is essential. The ever knowledgeable car accident lawyers at Reyes Browne Reilley Law Firm in Dallas,TX will work closely with you to determine who was at fault for the collision. One or more parties can be responsible for the accident, in which case they share the liability amongst them.
In most cases, the challenged parties do not oppose the claim against their responsibility. However, in some cases, a jury decides the party liable through a trial in a court of law.
What Is Needed to Prove Fault?
Five elements are generally needed to prove fault in a car accident in Texas. Your lawyer will often examine these five aspects when making a claim or building a case against a defendant.
- The defendant owes you a level of care. Drivers on the road should take a certain level of care for their fellow drivers. Most car accidents result from negligence and careless behavior on the part of the driver, and such conduct can put him or her at fault for the car accident.
- The driver violated this duty of care through active or passive means. It involves the violation of traffic laws and safety regulations, including drunk driving, breaking red signals, texting or calling while driving, careless overtaking, etc. The behavior of this kind puts everyone on the road in danger and places such a driver at fault.
- Another important factor that determines fault is proximate causation, which concerns the foreseeability of the actions of a driver on the road.
- ‘Sine qua non’ causation is also used to determine fault. Also known as but-for or cause-in-fact, it means that had a particular action or event not taken place, the accident would not have happened. For example, but for not texting while driving, the road traffic accident would not have occurred.
- The fifth factor is the damages that directly result from an accident. Damages may include medical bills, loss of income, mental anguish, or pain and suffering caused because of the accident.
What Should I Do After an Accident?
If you are involved in a car accident, there are a few steps you can take to make the upcoming legal process easier for yourself and everyone else involved. The first thing to do is to follow the protocol to make sure your case will be a strong one. It includes staying at the scene of the accident, reporting the accident to the authorities immediately, and calling for medical assistance.
After you have made sure that you are out of any immediate danger due to your injuries, you should make a record of everything. A record of the surroundings, weather, road conditions, state of the vehicles involved in the accident, and other physical evidence can help you in building a stronger case down the line.
Photographic evidence of the scene of the accident, as well as audio testimonies from the eyewitnesses and bystanders, can be particularly helpful if the responsible party decides to challenge the liability.
