What could possibly be worse than getting hurt in a catastrophic auto accident? getting sued by the other driver and ending up in court. Almost always, getting involved in personal injury lawsuit results from the inability of lawyers and insurance companies to come to an agreement. Hence, for defendants, a court is typically not a good location. While deciding who is at fault in vehicle accident situations, the courts have this role. To determine which insurance company should pay and how much should be paid, fault must be established.
In the end, responsibility and carelessness are the two factors that the courts consider. To determine whether one or more of the participating drivers is at fault, they consider a number of variables. They rely on a variety of information sources, such as insurance firms and police reports.
Statistics from Police Reports
Upon being hired by a client, an ABQ car accident lawyer will right away request a copy of the police report, because all of the information about the incident is contained in the police report. The material in police reports comes from witness interviews, statements from the drivers who were injured, and observations of the accident scene.
Police are permitted to determine who was at fault in their reports in some states. This does not, however, ensure that a court would come to the same decision. The courts take into account any admissions of fault made by police personnel, but they do not rely primarily on them for decision-making. Of course, there are some states where police are not permitted to determine fault. Yet, the information in their reports is still useful to courts.
Investigations by Insurance Companies
Insurance firms have finished their own investigations long before a vehicle crash lawsuit is brought to court. Insurance adjusters interview regular witnesses, examine police reports, examine photographs of the accident scene, and so forth. It is their responsibility to determine how each of their clients contributed to the accident in question.
The insurance adjuster’s responsibility also includes defending the insurance provider’s interests. A typical adjuster will therefore investigate every possibility. The information provided by insurance adjusters is crucial to the courts because they are aware of this. Information that police officers did not find during their on-scene investigations may be disclosed to courts by insurance adjusters.
Mitigating Situations
Finally, courts take into account mitigating factors in addition to police and insurance adjuster findings. A judge might inquire, for instance, as to whether the accident was influenced by the weather. A court would also consider other mitigating circumstances, such as traffic patterns, nearby drivers, the state of the vehicles’ mechanical systems, and even a driver’s past.
In this case, the judges are really trying to comprehend what negligence means. Negligence is the failure to exercise appropriate care given the circumstances. A court would deem it careless behavior if someone drove too quickly for the weather. Additional careless actions include using a cell phone while driving, driving while intoxicated, aggressive driving, and similar ones.
The court makes a decision after considering all of the evidence. Courts rarely find that one driver is entirely to blame for an accident. In any case, the allocation of financial costs is determined by the court’s finding of fault. The amount that the defendant’s insurance company will pay depends on how much blame is placed on either the plaintiff or the defendant.
