What if Multiple Parties were Responsible for My Accident?

While some accidents are the result of only one person’s negligence, it is also not unheard of for more than one party to be at fault for causing someone’s injuries. Unfortunately, this can make it much more difficult for plaintiffs to recover compensation for their losses, as they will be required to provide evidence of the negligence of multiple individuals or entities. Having an attorney on your side is especially critical in these types of cases, so if you were recently injured in an accident in which numerous people were involved, please reach out to our experienced Altamonte Springs personal injury lawyers for help.

Comparative Negligence in Florida

In Florida, all tortfeasors, or those who were responsible for an accident, can be held liable for their part in causing someone else’s injuries. This is achieved by applying the legal doctrine of comparative negligence, under which multiple individuals can be held responsible for causing a single accident. In fact, this is true even if the victim also contributed to the accident in some way. In these cases, all parties will be held liable for an amount that is proportionate to their degree of fault in causing the accident.

Determining the negligence of multiple parties tends to arise most often in car accident scenarios, where the carelessness of more than one person or entity helped cause a crash. If, for instance, a driver was texting and ran a red light, colliding with another vehicle in the intersection, that person would clearly be held liable for his or her role in causing the accident. If, however, another driver was tailgating the first car and was unable to avoid the collision, he or she could also be required to cover a portion of the victim’s losses. Unfortunately, the more individuals who are involved in an accident, the more difficult it is to resolve liability.

Determining Liability

Cases like the previous example usually involve a number of complicated factual issues. For instance, the second driver will likely argue that his or her actions didn’t actually contribute to the victim’s injuries, but that he or she is also a victim of the other driver’s carelessness. To help demonstrate that both drivers contributed to a crash, an injured party may need to present testimony from an accident reconstruction expert who could help break down and explain the physics of the crash.

Contact Our Altamonte Springs Personal Injury Lawyers

Just because you were injured as a result of multiple people’s negligence doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pursue claims against all of those individuals. At Goldman Law, P.A., we dedicate ourselves to representing the victims of all sorts of accidents, including those whose injuries are the result of the negligence of more than one party. To learn more about how an experienced Altamonte Springs personal injury lawyer can help establish liability in your own case, please call our office at 407-960-1900 today.

Resource:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.81.html