Negligence is a theory that is used for proving fault in car accident cases. You and your personal injury lawyer will need to understand it if you want to win a settlement. Because negligence is a legal theory that is used to establish fault in car accident cases, you have probably heard your personal injury lawyer toss this term around a lot when discussing your case with you. This probably leads you to wonder what negligence is and how it is proved in personal injury claims and cases.

Your lawyer will tell you that negligence occurs when a person behaves in a thoughtless or careless/reckless manner towards another person who has been harmed by the actions. You are guilty of negligence, for example, if you run a red light and T-bone another car. The other driver may suffer from a whiplash back injury because of your actions. You and other drivers must act with a reasonable standard of care when driving. You are guilty of negligence if you fail to do so and hurt another driver or pedestrian in the process.

Components of a negligence claim

Personal injury lawyers in Bellflower know that the plaintiff must prove the following if he or she wants to prove that the de3fendant was acting negligently.

The defendant was legally obliged to act with a reasonable duty of care – people who drive must do so defensively to avoid injuring and/or killing other drivers and/or pedestrians. If the defendant failed to do this, he or she is guilty of negligence.

The defendant was careless – he or she breached his or her duty of care. Personal injury law will compare the defendant’s actions with those of a reasonable person in the same situation to determine if the defendant acted carelessly.

The defendant’s actions caused your injuries – you (the plaintiff) must prove that the defendant’s actions are what caused your injuries.

You suffered losses and/or injuries – good examples of this are medical and related bills, loss of income/wages, pain, and suffering, loss of consortium, property damages, etc…you don’t have a case if you didn’t suffer any economic losses either tangible or intangible.

The Driver’s duties

Drivers must drive at no higher than the posted speed limit. This is the reasonable speed that has been established for that particular road.Drivers must be vigilant and drive defensively. They must be in constant control of their vehicles and they must properly maintain their vehicles.

Driver duties according to state laws

State laws require drivers to follow certain rules when driving. For example, they must be sober, they must obey all right of way rules, and they must drive on the right side of the street.You need to understand negligence because the defense can use many arguments under the negligence theory to prove his or her innocence.