If the victim of an accident could show that the other driver had committed careless or neglectful acts, and thus caused the injury-linked accident, then the victim would gone a long way towards establishing proof of the other driver’s negligence.
Elements of negligence
• Defendant had duty of care
• Defendant breached his or her duty of care
• Defendant’s breach caused the victim/plaintiff to suffer injuries
• The defendant’s injuries forced him or her to deal with a measurable loss.
How to prove the existence of all 4 of those elements?
• Every driver has a duty to keep his or her vehicle under control.
• Every driver has a duty to make sure that his or her vehicle is well maintained.
• All drivers must obey the rules of the road.
• Speeding causes the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
• A police officer has the right to pull a motorist over, if he/she has failed to fix a car part, such as a taillight.
• If a driver’s eyes were not focused on the road, he or she might run through a stop sign.
All of the above represent a breach of duty.
Evidence that demonstrated a cause-and-effect relationship could work to link a breach to development of an accident-linked injury. Still, the defendant must have a proximity to the event that caused the injury.
The medical report from the physician that has been made responsible for treating the victim should produce any evidence of marked losses, as a result of the observed injury.
A team of defense lawyers for the defendant would try to cast doubt on the fact that the 4 elements of negligence had been proven.
Personal injury lawyer in Kingston knows that records that showed that the defendant had paid to have the vehicle inspected within the past week could be used to counter a claim of negligence, due to failure to keep the vehicle’s parts in working order.
If a traffic light was not working right, then that fact could be used to show that the defendant’s vehicle had not gone through a red light. If a stop sign had been obscured by natural growth, then that fact could be used to explain the defendant’s failure to obey a STOP sign.
If the victim had failed to seek medical attention within the 24-hour period that followed the accident, no doctor would be ready to link late-appearing symptoms to that particular event. In other words, the victim’s own actions could provide a defense team with evidence of the victim’s own negligence. That would lead to a charge of shared blame. In some states victims are unable to claim any compensation, if it the evidence has supported a charge of shared blame.
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