If you have been involved in a car accident, what is helpful to understand?
To begin, tort law is what defines accidents and car accident law. The common term for accidents in tort law is negligence. Negligence has two meanings to attorneys. First, it refers to negligent acts. Acts that define who has fault, who has liability for actions. Secondly, it means a cause of action, which is a legal reason to sue someone.
What qualifies as a negligent act? Well, a standard for how a person should behave exists. Different acts, might have different standards. That said, it is often that the standard of care when driving on the street is to obey the laws of the road. If a speed limit says you must drive 60 miles per hour, then the standard of care of how a person should act is to obey the laws of the speed limit.
Having this in mind, we can analyze whether the driver that crashed into you was negligent. Things that can help us, help you, is having a police report. The police report is an often times neutral analysis of the accident. Additionally, having your story of the incident is really helpful. It is highly recommended that soon after the car crash, you should make notes of what happened so that you can remember the details clearly.
What do you need to prove in order to win your car accident case?
You need to prove four things: First, that the other driver owed you a legal duty to use the proper care when driving their vehicle; second, that the other car driver breached their duty of care; third, that there is a proximate connection between the breach and your injury; and four, actual loss or damage resulting from that injury.
Legal Resources
- See Restatement (Second of Torts Section 282 (1965)
- Definition of Negligence
- See Mendoza v. City of Los Angeles, 66 CA4th 1333, 1339 (1998)