Comparative Negligence and its Impact on Personal Injury Claims

Personal injury claims can be one of the intricate legal proceedings under numerous circumstances therefore, assigning the amount of fault on all the involved parties becomes equally crucial. This is how the term ‘ Comparative Negligence’ comes into action. This blog will delve deeper into what this means. How does it work? And what are the effects that it can bring on your Personal Injury claim?

What is Comparative Negligence?

In layman’s terms, it is a legal principle that is used to determine the degree of fault in an accident where two or more parties are involved. This assigns the responsibility of how much each party contributed to the accident. The rule assigns fault based on each party's contribution to the occurrence or extent of the accident owing to which their damages claimed may be reduced as per the responsibility shared.
For example, A person walking on the road was hit by a speeding car, but he was not using the crossing. In this case, the court may assign some share of responsibility to the pedestrian under comparative negligence and would reduce the amount claimed for the damage.

Now the question arises how much are the claims going to be affected? And under what circumstances? For this let us understand the kinds of Comparative Negligence :

What are the types of Comparative Negligence?

These are generally of two types :

• Pure Comparative Negligence - In this case, the Plaintiff can recover their demanded compensation amount even if they are found guilty or at fault. Their damages are deducted in the proportion of their fault. For example, if they are found to be at blame for 35% of the accident, their damages would also be reduced by 35%.

• Modified Comparative Negligence - there are two variations to this "50% bar rule" and "51% bar rule". In the 50% bar rule variation, a plaintiff is barred from recovery of any damage if they are found to be 50% or more at fault. In the 51% rule, they are denied any damage claimed, if they are found to be 51% or more at fault.
  Different states have their jurisdiction of following these rules. Some follow 50% while others 51%.
  One has to consult their case attorneys to clarify what rules their state follows.

How can Comparative Negligence Affect Your Personal Injury Claims?

We have now understood what the term means and can understand that Comparative negligence has a significant influence on personal injury cases. This can lead to a reduction in the injured party receiving the amount of money demanded for the damage or no compensation at all if they are found to be partially at fault for the accident. Let us determine briefly its impact.

• No Compensation if the fault is 50% or more than 50%. In some cases, 51% or more than 51%, the injured party will be barred from collecting damages altogether.

• Reduction in Compensation if the fault is comparatively less, the plaintiff can only recover damages for the percentage of fault that is attributed to the defendant, no matter how small it may be.

• Affecting the Reliability This principle can also affect the reliability of witness testimony and evidence presented, as both parties at fault will try to establish their innocence and shift liability onto the other side.

Therefore, those who were injured need to seek assistance from personal injury lawyers with appropriate experience in handling these complicated legal matters. They can aid in the collection of evidence to prove the responsibility of the accused party and mitigate the injured party's responsibility, thereby increasing the likelihood of receiving just compensation for their damages while ensuring their legal rights are being safeguarded.

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