Individuals who are injured in car wrecks tend to put a lot of focus on proving liability. This means presenting evidence that the driver in question acted negligent in some way and showing how that negligence resulted in the car accident that has left the victim with injuries. While these are certainly important issues that you have to confront head-on, they are not the only matters that require your attention when you choose to pursue a personal injury claim.
Why You Need to Know About Comparative Negligence
Arizona recognizes comparative negligence. This means that the judge and jury are free to assess the fault attributable to a car accident victim and reduce any award accordingly. Therefore, if you succeed in establishing liability and a jury awards you $100,000 but find that you are 40% at fault, then you’ll only actually recover $60,000 of that award. Your claim can’t be barred, so even if you’re more than half at fault you can still seek damages.
Be Prepared to Play Some Defense
Although presenting a personal injury lawsuit requires you to be on the attack, you’ll also need to be ready to defend yourself to a certain extent. This is because the defendant will likely try to put forth evidence showing that you’re at least partially to blame. So, you might be accused of violating traffic law, being inattentive, or even being intoxicated at the time of the crash. If you don’t appropriately defend yourself from these accusations, then your award can be reduced to the point that it doesn’t adequately address your damages.
You Can Secure Help
To maximize your chances of succeeding on a personal injury claim, you need to take holistic approach. This means gathering evidence to aggressively pursue the imposition of liability and tactfully defending yourself from comparative negligence. It can be a complicated process, but its one that you don’t have to face on your own. Instead, think about working closely with an experienced personal injury attorney who will know how to protect your interests to the fullest extent.
