Is Technology Making Motor Vehicle Legal Better Or Worse?

Motor Vehicle Litigation

A lawsuit is necessary when liability is contested. The defendant is entitled to respond to the Complaint.

New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that, in the event that a jury determines that you were at fault for an accident and you are found to be at fault, your damages will be reduced based on your percentage of blame. This rule does not apply to the owners of vehicles that are that are rented or leased out to minors.

Duty of Care

In a negligence case, motor Vehicle accidents the plaintiff must prove that the defendant had the duty of care toward them. This duty is owed to all, but those who drive a vehicle owe an even greater duty to others in their field. This includes ensuring that they don't cause motor vehicle accidents (recent post by En Easypanme).

Courtrooms evaluate an individual's behavior to what a typical individual would do in the same conditions to determine an acceptable standard of care. In the case of medical malpractice expert witnesses are typically required. Experts with a superior understanding of specific fields could be held to a greater standard of care.

A person's breach of their duty of care may cause harm to a victim or their property. The victim must establish that the defendant's breach of their duty led to the harm and damages they suffered. Causation is a key element of any negligence claim. It involves proving both the primary and secondary causes of the damages and injuries.

For instance, if someone runs a red light and is stopped, they'll be struck by a vehicle. If their car is damaged, they will be responsible for the repairs. However, the real cause of the crash could be a cut or a brick that later develops into a serious infection.

Breach of Duty

A defendant's breach of duty is the second factor of negligence that must be proven to win compensation in a personal injury suit. A breach of duty occurs when the actions of the party at fault aren't in line with what an average person would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor, for instance, has a variety of professional obligations to his patients based on state law and licensing boards. Drivers are bound to take care of other drivers as well as pedestrians, and to respect traffic laws. If a motorist violates this duty of care and causes an accident, he is accountable for the injuries sustained by the victim.

A lawyer may use the "reasonable person" standard to establish the existence of a duty of care and then demonstrate that the defendant did not satisfy the standard through his actions. The jury will decide if the defendant complied with or did not meet the standards.

The plaintiff must also demonstrate that the defendant's negligence was the direct cause of the plaintiff's injuries. It is more difficult to prove this than a breach of duty. A defendant may have run through a red light but that wasn't what caused your bicycle accident. In this way, causation is often challenged by defendants in collision cases.

Causation

In motor vehicle accident attorney vehicle cases, the plaintiff must establish a causal connection between the defendant's breach of duty and their injuries. For instance, if a plaintiff suffered an injury to the neck as a result of a rear-end collision the lawyer will argue that the collision caused the injury. Other factors necessary to cause the collision, such as being in a stationary vehicle are not considered to be culpable and will not affect the jury's decision on the degree of fault.

It may be harder to establish a causal relationship between an act of negligence and the plaintiff's psychological symptoms. It may be that the plaintiff has a turbulent past, has a difficult relationship with their parents, or has abused alcohol or drugs.

It is essential to speak with an experienced lawyer when you've been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury commercial and business litigation and motor vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have established relationships with independent physicians with a variety of specialties and expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations as well with private investigators.

Damages

In motor vehicle litigation, a plaintiff can be able to recover both economic and noneconomic damages. The first type of damages encompasses all costs that can easily be added up and then calculated into a total, for example, medical treatment, lost wages, repairs to property, and even financial loss, for instance a diminished earning capacity.

New York law recognizes that non-economic damages, such as suffering and pain, and loss of enjoyment, cannot be reduced to money. These damages must be established through extensive evidence such as depositions from family members and friends of the plaintiff or medical records, or other expert witness testimony.

In cases involving multiple defendants, Courts will often use rules of comparative negligence to determine how much of the damages award should be allocated between them. The jury must determine the proportion of fault each defendant carries for the accident and then divide the total damages awarded by that percentage. New York law however, doesn't allow this. 1602 exempts owners of vehicles from the comparative negligence rule in cases where injuries are suffered by drivers of trucks or cars. The process to determine if the presumption of permissiveness is complex. Most of the time, only a clear demonstration that the owner refused permission for the driver to operate the vehicle will overrule the presumption.