Car Accident Basics – Finding Fault

A car accident can cause a great deal of confusion. Regardless of what happens, you’re going to find a lot of issues that are looming. There are a lot of different issues that may rise on a legal level, and knowing what your rights are is very important overall. You may have to file a claim with your insurance company, and you may have to get legal help, but how do you move ahead? If you’re not sure what to do or how to move forward, consider a few notes on accident issues overall.

Liability  

The first thing that is important is simple, you need to know who is liable. You may not know this at first glance, especially when accidents occur.

Legal Duty – the first thing you need to understand is that there’s a legal element involved with driving. You are legally bound to adhering to the rules of the road.

Duty Breach – when an accident occurs, the notion of a legal duty changes. It is breached, because someone has not followed the rules of the road. If one driver could’ve been more careful, and avoided issues, then they would be at fault. Proof of course would need to be had.

Injuries – someone may be at fault, but in order to move forward with a claim or with getting legal help, injuries may help the issue become more clear. A drier may be negligent, for instance, but that doesn’t mean he’s at fault under the law. However, if there are injuries, the definition may be a bit clearer.

Sharing Liability

In some instances, there may be a shared liability that comes into play. This is where legal professionals have to focus on moving forward with figuring out who is truly at fault, and who is going to be responsible for damages, and medical bills. What makes this more complex is that there are fault states and no-fault states. This makes things quite difficult to manage without knowing exactly where you are and what the laws are in your state.

If you are involved in a car accident, you should consider safety first. Then contact your insurance company, local authorities, and try to remain calm. After that, you should consider legal professionals to assist with figuring out what your rights are, and what financial parameters you’ll have to navigate as well.

Orange County Car Accident Attorney