From fender-benders resulting in minor injuries to head-on collisions resulting in catastrophic injuries, any accident can be traumatic and difficult to recover from on a physical and emotional level. To make matters worse, motor vehicle accident victims may find themselves unable to work during their recovery and therefore, unable to pay their medical and household bills. In more serious cases, victims may never be able to return to work due to the permanent injuries they suffer. By filing a lawsuit against the parties responsible for their accident, accident victims may be able to recover compensation to support themselves and their families.
Many personal injury lawsuits rest on proving another party’s negligence. Negligence occurs when a party breaches a duty owed to another party and that breach of duty causes the other party harm. Generally, with car accidents, one driver breached their duty to drive safely by failing to follow traffic laws and as a result, caused an accident which resulted in harm to another driver.
For example, if two vehicles are involved in a rear-end collision, it is likely that one driver followed too closely, drove while distracted, drove at an excessive rate of speed, or otherwise drove negligently. As a result, the negligent driver’s behavior caused his or her vehicle to rear-end another vehicle, which resulted in injuries to the driver of the other vehicle.
In many accident cases, more than one party is responsible for the accident and any resulting injuries. Some states will allow you to recover damages, even if you were partially at fault for the collision. However, Virginia follows contributory negligence laws, meaning that if you are even one percent responsible for the accident, you cannot recover compensation. A personal injury attorney in your area can review the facts of your accident and give you a realistic picture of what to expect if you decide to go forward with your lawsuit.
