Am I Liable in My Massachusetts Car Accident?

There are rules that a court will use to determine liability in a Massachusetts car accident. These rules are meant to determine negligence, or in other words, which driver was at fault.

But there are some cases in which both drivers are determined to have been careless. In that case, percentages are used to determine how much each driver was at fault. The commonly used term for this is comparative negligence.

Comparative negligence will be assessed during the investigation of a Massachusetts accident. While one driver may be found to be at fault for failing to signal properly, the other driver may have been eating a cheeseburger at the time of the crash, and therefore, some of the fault is theirs. A court will value each driver's negligence in simple terms of percentages.

In this example, the driver who failed to use his signal is the one who caused the accident, so the distracted cheeseburger-eater's negligence may only be valued at 10%. This means that if compensation for the cheeseburger-eater in this case amounts to $1,000, their 10% negligence will be deducted from the total, and they will only receive $900 in damages.

Please note however, that this is a purely hypothetical situation and not meant to prove that eating while driving would only cause someone to be 10% liable for an accident.

Based on the rules that are used to determine liability, other parties may have been at fault as well, such as a driver's employer, a property owner, or the manufacturer of a car.

Learn more about how Massachusetts determines liability by visiting our article library. 

If you have been injured in a car accident, a Massachusetts personal injury lawyer can help you seek fair compensation for your injuries. An experienced Massachusetts accident attorney will piece together details of the collision to determine who was responsible and who should be held accountable. You can receive compensation for physical and emotional trauma, loss of wages, medical bills, and other damages.

Phillips & Garcia P.C., a law firm based in the SouthCoast of Massachusetts, takes time when speaking with you about your case and works with you on a contingent fee basis so there are NO FEES unless our trained personal injury lawyers wins your case. Call now to schedule a FREE evaluation of your case - 1-877-892-5620.