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What Is Comparative Negligence?

51. What is Comparative Negligence1When a car accident happens between two or more vehicles, someone is almost always responsible for the accident. While it is customary to think just one person is responsible, it is possible for more than one to hold some kind of responsibility. Because of this, the personal injury claims process can become somewhat more complicated because how much fault each party had in the accident determines how much compensation can be received.

If you have been involved in an accident where you may have had some degree of fault, you may still be able to file a lawsuit against the other party in the accident if they were more at fault than you. At Brotherly Law, we can evaluate the details surrounding the accident in order to determine if you can sue the other party for damages regardless of your own fault in the accident.

Comparative Negligence in Pennsylvania

Comparative negligence is a tactic that is used by the defense to reduce the amount of liability the plaintiff has to pay. Nonetheless, comparative negligence can be legitimate because each party’s negligence is weighed when determining damages. It used to be that a person who contributed in any way would be entitled to no damages, but that is not the case nowadays.

There are two types of comparative negligence and they are:

  • Modified comparative negligence – this is a common approach where the plaintiff will not recover anything if he or she is found equally responsible or more responsible for their injuries. The plaintiff can’t be more than 50% at fault if they want compensation.
  • Pure comparative negligence – The damages done to the plaintiff are calculated and then reduced to reflect their contribution to the accident that caused their injuries. If the plaintiff received $10,000 and the judge determined 25% responsibility for the injury, the plaintiff would receive $7,500 instead of the full award.

An example of comparative negligence is this: A driver is texting and driving, but another car drives through the red light at an intersection. The car that ran the red light is at fault for not obeying traffic laws. Because the plaintiff was texting and driving, they didn’t hit the brakes until it was too late. However, it is determined that the plaintiff would have still hit the defendant’s car, but they may have hit at a slower speed if they had not been texting. The percentage of negligence will be calculated in this case since both parties are responsible in some way for the degree of injury sustained by the plaintiff.

When both parties have been negligent, it is important to make sure the right percentage of negligence is determined so that the plaintiff doesn’t lose more compensation than they need to. This is something your attorney will fight hard to achieve so that you can recover the correct amount of compensation.

Contributory Negligence

Contributory negligence says that a person has a duty to act as a reasonable individual. When a person doesn’t act in this way and an injury happens, the person may be held totally or partially liable for the injury, although another party was involved.

51. What is Comparative Negligence2An example is this: A motorist strikes a pedestrian who was crossing the street without looking both ways first or obeying the do-not-cross sign. Once the injured pedestrian files an injury claim against the motorist, the defendant may then claim contributory negligence against the plaintiff, stating that the injury was at least partially the result of the plaintiff not being attentive when crossing the street. This is called a “contributory negligence counterclaim.”

If the defendant is able to prove contributory negligence, then the defendant may not have to pay any damages at all or the damages may be significantly reduced to reflect the role of the plaintiff in causing their injuries. Aggressive representation is always needed in injury cases, but this is a case where a more strategic approach will be needed to ensure the plaintiff doesn’t walk away empty handed when they shouldn’t.

Helping you Address the Types of Comparative Negligence and how they affect you

Comparative negligence is the act of determining how much liability each party in an accident possesses. It is very possible for the injured in a car accident to have some kind of liability and that amount of liability can affect how much money is received. This makes it especially important to have the proper legal representation so that the amount of declared liability doesn’t exceed what actually exists. If you have been involved in an accident that was primarily the fault of another party, Brotherly Law can help you navigate comparative negligence so that the end result is fair. To learn more, call us at (215) 545-8500 or contact us online to request a free consultation.

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If you have been injured due to no fault of your own, you may be able to hold the responsible party accountable for the monetary damages resulting from the accident. Fill out the form below to request a free consultation so we can evaluate your case.

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