Car, Truck & Motorcycle Accidents with Comparative Fault

California law follows ‘comparative fault’ rules when the victim of a car, truck or motorcycle accident is partly responsible for causing the accident and resulting injuries. In a nutshell, this means that if the personal injury victim is 35% responsible (in other words, negligent) for the accident, then the value of their claim will be reduced by 35%. The determination of the victim’s amount of responsibility is either agreed upon between the parties before litigation becomes necessary, or it is determined by the judge or jury at trial. If the total value of the accident claim is $1,000,000, and the victim is found to be 35% responsible for the accident, then the total amount paid to the victim is reduced to $650,000.00. Comparative fault rules, as they are known today, were established in a 1975 case titled Li vs. Yellow Cab Co. Prior to this case, a victim could not pursue a claim against another party for their personal injuries if they were even a little bit negligent in causing the accident. Now, not only can a victim who is partly responsible for the accident pursue damages for their injuries against an at-fault party, but they can even pursue damages if they were more at-fault than the other party (see the California Jury Instructions on comparative negligence). In the above hypothetical, if the victim was 70% at fault (instead of 35%), the final amount paid will be reduced to $300,000. An unfortunate reality of car, truck or motorcycle accidents is that often times the injured victim is partly responsible for causing the accident in the first place due to their own negligence, and as a result, will not be able to recover the full value of their claim. Typical situations where this arises is where the personal injury victim was speeding, made an unsafe lane change, failed to yield, or failed to follow appropriate signals (see Top 4 CA Vehicle Code Violations Resulting in Injury Accidents). If you or your loved one has been involved in a car accident, truck accident, or motorcycle accident and were partly responsible for their injuries, contact our comparative fault lawyer for a consultation. We have extensive experience with minimizing the amount of negligence our clients have been accused of having by the other side, and as a result, have obtained greater compensation for their injuries. For a discussion on the difference between comparative fault and contributory fault, see Comparative Negligence vs. Contributory Negligence – What’s the Difference?