Shared Liability In Auto Accidents
If you are pursuing an auto accident case, there is a good chance that the defendant may claim you are also liable for the damages. In case the defendant succeeds with their claim, you may lose your right to compensation or have your damages reduced. Below are some of the various ways in which different jurisdictions handle shared liability in auto accident cases.
Pure Contributory Negligence
The premise of contributory negligence is that you should not collect damages due to an accident that you also contributed toward. The rationale is that collecting damages in such a case amounts to rewarding wrongdoing. For example, they consider it unfair to let you collect auto accident damages if you are hit while crossing the road at an illegal place.
In pure contributory negligence, you are not entitled to any compensation even if your contribution to the accident is only 1% with the other party being 99% liable for the accident. Under this law, you won't collect any damages if you suffer an auto accident where the damages total $100,000, and you are liable for 5% of the damages.
Pure Comparative Negligence
Many states decided that pure contributory negligence is inherently unfair and opted to modify it. Thus, they came up with comparative negligence laws to deal with the unfairness. One of these laws is pure comparative negligence where you are not barred from collecting damages, but your final damages are reduced in line with your percentage contribution to the accident damages. For example, if your total damage is $100,000 and your contribution is 40%, you only collect $60,000. That is, you are only compensated for the actual damages that the defendant caused you.
Modified Comparative Negligence
Many states also think that pure comparative negligence is still unfair at some level. These states have come up with modified comparative negligence laws to bar the collection of damages in some cases and reduce damages (instead of barring them completely) under some circumstances
Using these laws, some states will bar your recovery if you are at least as responsible for your damages as the defendant. That is, you won't recover any damages if your contribution is at least 50%. There are also states that use the same laws, but use 51% instead of 50% as the minimum contribution that bars the recovery of damages.
As you can see, even a one-percent difference in liability between different parties can have a significant impact on your case. Consult an auto accident attorney or call a firm like Campbell Barnett PLLC to ensure there are no errors in your case that can increase your share of the liability.
