Ferdinand Smalls asked 2 เดือน ago
Motor Vehicle Litigation
A lawsuit is required when the liability is being contested. The Defendant has the right to respond to the Complaint.
New York has a pure comparative negligence rule. This means that, should a jury find that you were at fault for an accident the amount of damages you will be reduced according to your percentage of fault. This rule is not applicable to owners of vehicles that are rented or leased out to minors.
Duty of Care
In a case of negligence, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant owed the duty of care towards them. This duty is owed to everyone, but those who operate vehicles owe an even greater duty to other people in their field. This includes ensuring that there are no accidents in motor vehicles.
Courtrooms examine an individual’s conduct to what a typical person would do in similar circumstances to determine what constitutes an acceptable standard of care. In the event of medical malpractice experts are often required. Experts who have a greater understanding of the field could be held to a greater standard of medical care.
When a person breaches their duty of care, they could cause harm to the victim and/or their property. The victim has to demonstrate that the defendant did not fulfill their duty and caused the injury or damage they sustained. Proving causation is an essential part of any negligence case and requires considering both the actual basis of the injury or damages as well as the cause of the damage or injury.
For instance, if someone runs a red stop sign there is a good chance that they’ll be hit by another car. If their vehicle is damaged, they will be responsible for the repairs. However, the real cause of the crash could be a cut in the brick, which then develops into a potentially dangerous infection.
Breach of Duty
A defendant’s breach of duty is the second factor of negligence that must be proved in order to receive compensation in a personal injury case. A breach of duty occurs when the at-fault party’s actions aren’t in line with what a reasonable person would do in similar circumstances.
A doctor, for example has a variety of professional obligations to his patients. These professional obligations stem from the law of the state and licensing bodies. Drivers are required to be considerate of other drivers and pedestrians, and respect traffic laws. When a driver breaches this duty of care and results in an accident, the driver is accountable for the victim’s injuries.
Lawyers can rely on the “reasonable person” standard to establish the existence of the duty of care and then show that the defendant failed to satisfy the standard through his actions. It is a question of fact that the jury has to decide whether the defendant met the standard or not.
The plaintiff must also prove that the breach of duty by the defendant was the primary cause for the injuries. This is sometimes more difficult to prove than the existence of a duty and breach. For example it is possible that a defendant been a motorist who ran a red light, however, the act was not the sole cause of the crash. Causation is often contested in case of a crash by the defendants.
Causation
In motor vehicle cases the plaintiff must establish a causal link between breach by the defendant and their injuries. If a plaintiff suffers neck injuries in a rear-end accident, his or her attorney would argue that the collision was the cause of the injury. Other factors that are needed to produce the collision, such as being in a stationary vehicle are not culpable and do not affect the jury’s decision of liability.
For psychological injuries, however, the link between negligence and the affected plaintiff’s symptoms can be more difficult to establish. It may be because the plaintiff has a rocky past, has a difficult relationship with their parents, or has been a user of alcohol or drugs.
If you’ve been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident It is imperative to speak with an experienced attorney. The lawyers at Arnold & Clifford, LLP, have extensive experience in representing clients in personal injury commercial and business litigation, as well as motor vehicle accident attorneys vehicle accident cases. Our lawyers have established working relationships with independent doctors in a wide range of specialties and expert witnesses in accident reconstruction and computer simulations as well with private investigators.
Damages
The damages that plaintiffs can seek in motor vehicle litigation include both economic and non-economic damages. The first type of damages comprises any financial costs that can easily be added up and lawyers calculated as the sum of medical expenses or lost wages, property repair, and even future financial losses like a diminished earning capacity.
New York law also recognizes the right to recover non-economic damages such as the suffering of others and the loss of enjoyment of life which cannot be reduced to a dollar amount. These damages must be proved with a large amount of evidence, such as depositions of family members or friends of the plaintiff medical records, as well as other expert witness testimony.
In cases involving multiple defendants, Courts will often use rules of comparative negligence to determine the proportion of damages awarded should be split between them. The jury must determine how much fault each defendant incurred in the accident and then divide the total amount of damages by the percentage of fault. However, New York law 1602 excludes vehicle owners from the comparative negligence rule in the event of injuries sustained by drivers of trucks or cars. The process to determine if the presumption is permissive is complex. In general the only way to prove that the owner refused permission for the driver to operate the vehicle can overcome the presumption.
