Tag: negligence

Negligence occurs when someone fails to exercise a reasonable standard of care, resulting in harm to another person. A major part of a motor vehicle accident is determining who was negligent, in other words, who is at fault. The police will determine fault at the scene of the accident, and your personal injury lawyer will also determine who was at fault. Determining negligence is key to your personal injury claim. To successfully claim negligence, you need to prove four key elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. In a car accident, demonstrating negligence is usually pretty straightforward because the other driver may have broken the rules of the road. This can include actions like speeding, talking on the cell phone, distracted driving, improper left turn, or failing to yield the right of way. For example, if another driver runs a red light and hits your car, that driver was negligent.