When you sue for personal injury, you need to show how the other party was to blame for the accident and your resulting injuries. If you cannot prove negligence, your case is unlikely to be successful. Our Sussex County auto accident lawyers will do everything that they can to help you build a convincing case and show how someone else’s negligence caused you harm.

Do I Have to Prove Negligence in a Personal Injury Case?

You are unlikely to claim damages if you cannot show that someone else acted in a negligent manner. It’s important to show that:

  • The other party owed you a “duty of care”
  • They breached that duty
  • Their actions or inaction caused your injury
  • Those injuries resulted in damages

You must draw this clear line between the defendant ignoring the duty of care that they owed you and the stack of medical bills you’re facing, the wages you lost out on when injured, and all of the other damages incurred due to this accident.

Are There Different Types of Negligence?

There are also different types of negligence that a defendant can be accused of. Gross negligence is common in cases like these. Someone who speeds, drives aggressively, or operates a vehicle under the influence of drugs and then causes an accident can be accused of this. So could a pet owner who lets their dog roam free and injure a neighbor.

There are other types of negligence though, like a “failure to warn.” This is common in product liability cases. A good example of this would be a pharmaceutical company that failed to warn customers about a potentially dangerous drug side effect.

Can I Be Blamed For My Own Accident and Injuries?

You can be blamed for your own accident in some cases. If an insurer knows that their driver is at fault, they may try to argue that you were partly to blame. This can be a problem because you cannot sue for damages if you are considered more negligent than the party that you are suing.

Even if you are just accused of partial negligence, that can be a problem because it reduces how much you get in damages. Let’s say that another driver in a car accident is 80% at fault, but you get 20% of the blame. You win a $300,000 settlement, but you lose 20% of it because of how your negligence contributed to the accident. You get $240,000 instead. This is yet another reason why it’s a good idea to hire an experience lawyer who will defend you from accusations of wrongdoing.

Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer

Proving negligence and building a strong personal injury case isn’t easy on your own. If you were injured in an accident, contact Laddey Clark & Ryan, LLP to set up a consultation. We would be happy to tell you more about how we can be of assistance in this difficult time.