After being injured in an accident, you’re probably thinking about taking legal action in hopes of finding accountability and recovering compensation for the damages you’ve suffered. But the more you think about it, the more worried you might become about the role you played in your wreck. But can you be denied compensation if you’re partially to blame for your car accident?
New York’s pure comparative negligence law
New York has a pure comparative negligence law. This means that you can recover compensation regardless of how much fault is attributable to you.
However, the amount of money you recover from your case will depend on how much blame is assigned to you. The more you’re found to have contributed to your accident, then the less you’ll recover. For example, if you’re awarded $100,000 in damages but are found to be 60% at fault, then you’ll only walk away with $40,000. If you’re 100% to blame for the accident, then you won’t recover anything.
How can you protect yourself from comparative negligence arguments?
Because your recovery can be significantly reduced due to a comparative negligence finding, defendants often turn to this law to shield themselves from as much liability as possible. To deflect this argument, you should do the following:
- Analyze your driving actions leading up to your wreck.
- Secure an expert who can clarify who is to blame for the accident.
- Attack witness credibility to diminish the defense’s arguments.
- Minimize how your errant actions contributed to the wreck.
Build an aggressive personal injury case to protect your future
To recover your physical, mental, and financial health as much as possible, you need to fight for as much compensation as possible in your personal injury case. This means building an aggressive and effective personal injury case,
