Establishing Fault in Bay Area Car Accidents

Insurance company claim adjusters and car accident attorneys spend a lot of time gathering information and investigating Bay Area car accidents to determine who is a fault for the accident. The accident investigation is vital to establishing fault and fault is vital to recovering compensation for your injuries. When filing a Bay Area car accident lawsuit, your attorney will have to show four conditions have been met.

Proving fault in a car accident lawsuit in the Bay Area

You were owed a duty of care

The first condition that your attorney must prove is that the other driver involved in the accident owed you a duty. Normally, this condition is easily met because all drivers of vehicles owe a duty of care to other drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. All drivers also have a duty to follow the rules of the road for the location where they are driving—it is a condition of being granted a driver’s license.

The duty was breached

The second condition to be shown is that a breach of duty occurred in your accident. Your attorney will interview you and the other driver to determine if any rules of the road were broken. Car accident attorneys in the Bay Area will also try to determine if the other driver was distracted or inattentive while driving or if they attempted to avoid the accident. Being able to prove the other driver broke a law, was inattentive, or did not try to avoid the accident shows that there was a breach of the duty owed to you.

The breach caused the accident and resulted in damages

The third and fourth conditions to be met are that the breach of duty caused the accident and that the breach also resulted in measurable damages. So if a driver runs a red light and collides with you, and that collision causes bodily injury and damage to your car, your auto accident attorney will be able to meet the causation and damages conditions of establishing fault.

If you are in a car accident, be sure to keep notes and take pictures of the accident scene. Also collect information from witnesses to substantiate your version of the accident. If you are injured, accept medical attention at the scene of the accident. All of these actions will help your attorney establish your accident case.

Contact us

Attorneys at the San Francisco accident law firm of Albert G. Stoll, A Law Corporation are available to help you establish fault in your auto accident case. Contact us today for a consultation.