While at the scene of a car accident, who’s to blame may seem completely transparent, but most often, determining who is responsible in the courtroom is much more difficult. Your attorney will have a couple of options to establish fault, but in Alabama, there are a few particular legal standards to take into account. 

Ways of Establishing Fault After a Car Accident

Violation of a Rule of the Road

In Alabama, the law presumes that the driver is at fault if they violate a rule of the road. Such instances can include running a stop sign, running a red light, failing to yield at an intersection, or driving while impaired in some capacity. In court, your attorney needs to prove through eyewitness accounts that the driver broke a traffic law and that this violation directly caused your injuries.

No-Doubt Liability

In certain circumstances, the court almost always places the blame on the other driver, and it’s nearly impossible to prove otherwise. Left-turn accidents are a prime example of no-doubt liability—if you’re driving straight and a car in the opposite left-hand turn lane T-bones you, it’s difficult to argue that you were at fault. You would only take the blame if you ran a red light, you were speeding, or other circumstances made the other driver slow down midturn, causing the accident. 

Reasonable Person Standard

If a traffic law isn’t broken leading up to the accident, this standard is another way to prove fault. If the other driver caused the crash due to negligence that any other reasonable driver would not have committed, then they can be held liable. An instance of the reasonable person standard could be a collision in which the other driver hydroplaned into your car while it was raining. Your attorney would need evidence to support that the driver drove recklessly for the conditions; even if they technically drove below the speed limit, they can be liable if the weather required a more cautionary speed. 

Factors in Play in Alabama

Determining Causation

In any of these instances, your attorney must draw a direct line of causation between the other driver’s actions and your subsequent injuries. The evidence involved cannot come from you or the other driver’s perspective of the incident, which are inherently biased, but instead from outside witnesses, photos, and traffic cam footage.

A complicating factor in Alabama is that motor vehicle reports, or reports of drivers’ accident history, are inadmissible, meaning that a jury cannot look at them or factor the information they contain into its verdict. With this in mind, try to document as much of the accident at the scene, whether taking photos yourself or hiring an attorney to investigate and preserve evidence.

Establishing Contributory Negligence

While delivering a simple apology at the scene of the accident—even if you weren’t at fault—seems harmless in the moment, this information can mean all the difference in an Alabama courtroom. The jury must see the opposing driver as 100% at fault in the accident. Otherwise, you won’t win your claim. A skilled personal injury attorney can tip the scales on this account, but it is also wise to speak as little as possible at the accident scene to limit your liability through twisted words. 

When another driver on the road has caused you harm, you want an attorney who will help you hold them responsible for your injuries. In Dothan, Enterprise, and Ozark, AL, residents turn to Carey & Hamner, PC, to handle their personal injury lawsuits. Their team has made it their primary focus to represent victims of car accidents for the past decade and will guide you through the process with diligence and tact. For more information about their firm, and to schedule a consultation, call (855) 435-4797 or visit their website.