{"id":3977,"date":"2019-01-07T18:19:36","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T18:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montaglaw.net\/news\/?p=3977"},"modified":"2019-01-07T19:01:28","modified_gmt":"2019-01-07T19:01:28","slug":"how-to-determine-fault-for-a-car-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montaglaw.net\/news\/how-to-determine-fault-for-a-car-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Determine Fault for a Car Accident"},"content":{"rendered":"

Determining Fault for a Car Accident<\/h2>\n

\"CarIn order to make an injury claim for pain and suffering after a car accident, it is necessary to be able to prove that the accident was caused by someone else\u2019s negligence.\u00a0 Establishing fault for an accident is necessary to get compensation for accident victims because whoever caused the accident is usually responsible to pay for damages.\u00a0 This article describes some of the issues considered by lawyers, insurance adjusters, and juries when deciding who caused a motor vehicle accident.<\/p>\n

Distracted or Impaired Driving<\/h3>\n

Even a brief loss of concentration while driving can result in an accident.\u00a0 Texting and other smartphone usage are among the most common types of negligent driving behaviors.\u00a0 Impaired driving includes driving drunk or driving while using drugs.\u00a0 Driving when you are too tired to stay awake and alert is also impaired driving.\u00a0 Impaired driving causes some very serious accidents and injuries.<\/p>\n

Fault can Often be Determined by Car Accident Damage<\/h3>\n

The type of damage and severity of damage often tells a story.\u00a0 Sometimes the fault is very clear and everyone agrees about what happened.\u00a0 There is seldom any doubt about whether or not a stop sign violation occurred and witnesses can often clear up any disputes about what the drivers say happened.\u00a0 Often drivers have very different accounts of what happened and we have to do a more detailed evaluation of what happened.\u00a0 In many of these cases, the physical configuration of the roadway or intersection, as well as the damage to the vehicles, can tell us what happened.\u00a0 Skid marks and debris on the road can tell where the collision occurred as well as provide information about the speed and direction of travel of the vehicles.\u00a0 Damage at the back of the car shows the vehicle was struck from behind.<\/p>\n

I have dealt with many accidents involving a three-car pile-up with three cars traveling all going straight in one direction in the same lane.\u00a0 There are two possible ways that that could happen.\u00a0 There could be an initial collision between the front car and the middle car followed by another collision between the rear vehicle and the middle vehicle.\u00a0 That is what insurance companies would usually like to say happened if you were in the middle vehicle.\u00a0 Another possibility is that the middle car was struck and pushed into the front car.\u00a0 A larger amount of damage at the back of the middle vehicle and the front of the rear vehicle as compared to the damage at the front of the middle vehicle and the back of the front vehicle would be likely if the rear vehicle started the chain reaction.\u00a0 Also, witness statements including the driver or passengers of the front vehicle can be important.\u00a0 If the front vehicle felt two collisions or one collision is then the question.\u00a0 In addition to witnesses, most cars less than about ten years old have computers that record information about the movement of vehicles before an accident.\u00a0 It requires special technical skill to recover information from cars and interpret it.\u00a0 This is one of the ways that accident reconstruction specialists can play a very important role in determining fault.\u00a0 Your own car can become an important and impartial witness.<\/p>\n

Other Information can be derived from physical damage to the vehicles<\/strong><\/p>\n

The damage can show where the vehicles were and help prove who was at fault.\u00a0 For example, if an accident when a car made a right turn out of a parking lot in front of a vehicle approaching from the left, the driver\u2019s side of the at-fault vehicle would be damaged and the front of the other vehicle would be damaged.\u00a0 If one driver was turning left at an intersection in front of oncoming traffic the front or right side of the left turning vehicle would be damaged and the front or left side of the vehicle that was traveling straight would be damaged.\u00a0 Accident reconstruction specialists use information such as weather conditions, the weight of the vehicles involved and skid mark measurements to determine things such as the speed and direction of travel of the vehicles.<\/p>\n

Other things considered when determining fault<\/strong><\/p>\n