Comparative Negligence in NJ Car Accidents
Every day, victims suffer serious injuries, expensive medical bills and property damage in automobile accidents. If you need to pursue financial compensation after a car crash in New Jersey, be prepared for the comparative negligence law to potentially reduce your payout. Getting a New Jersey car accident lawyer and learning how this law works can protect your right to recover.
What Is Negligence?
Negligence is the basis for most personal injury and car accident claims in New Jersey. In the context of personal injury law, negligence is the failure of a person or party to act with a proper amount of care, resulting in injury or harm to someone else. Proof of negligence is generally required to collect financial compensation from another driver or party in a car accident case.
What Is Comparative Negligence?
Comparative negligence is the concept that negligence as a contributing factor to an accident is based on a total percentage of 100 percent. When an accident is investigated, each individual involved will be assigned a percentage or degree of fault. Together, the percentages of negligence of all the parties will equal 100 percent.
After a car accident claim is filed, an insurance company will review the facts relating to the case and determine the degree of negligence of its policyholder compared to the claimant. According to New Jersey Statutes Annotated § 2A:15-5.2, if an injured party is assigned a percentage of fault, he or she can still recover financial compensation, as long as the claimant’s fault is less than the policyholder’s.
Under New Jersey’s modified comparative negligence law, if a car accident victim is found to be more than 51 percent at fault for a car accident, he or she will be barred from making a financial recovery from the defendant. With less than 51 percent of fault, however, the claimant can recover an award that is reduced in accordance with his or her degree of negligence.
How Might Comparative Negligence Affect Your Car Accident Claim?
When you file a car insurance claim in New Jersey, the insurance company will conduct an investigation to determine and assign fault. If the insurer allocates a percentage of fault to you, this will reduce the value of your settlement by an equivalent amount.
For example, if the other driver is found to be 80 percent responsible for running a red light but you are allocated 20 percent for speeding, a $100,000 settlement would be reduced by 20 percent to $80,000. If you are assigned more than 50 percent of fault, you will be unable to recover any amount from the other driver’s insurance company.
How Can a Car Accident Attorney Help You With New Jersey’s Comparative Negligence Law?
A New Jersey personal injury attorney can collect documentation and submit it to a car insurance provider to help prove your case against another driver. Evidence may include a police report, eyewitness statements, photographs and videos, expert testimony, and applicable motor vehicle laws. A lawyer will work to prove that the other driver is at least 50 percent at fault to preserve your right to recover financial compensation.
If your New Jersey car accident case involves the comparative negligence law, waste no time in contacting an attorney for assistance. A lawyer can immediately go to work on proving your case and negotiating for maximum compensation on your behalf with an insurance provider. Contact the Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Hasson, P.C. today for a free case evaluation.