It’s usually challenging to determine who is liable for a multi-car accident. Multiple parties will have varying degrees of liability. Depending on how many cars and the gravity of the situation, these factors could complicate your personal injury claim.
Thankfully, a lawyer can help you sort out the right parties at fault and how to get your compensation. Generally, these are the common types of multiple vehicles:
- Rear-end accidents – this happens when a driver crashes into the rear end of another car then causes a chain reaction of numerous vehicles crashing into one another.
- Head-on collisions – this occurs when a car crashes into another car at very high speeds leading to property damage, injury or death.
- T-bone accidents – this happens when a driver stirs/turns the car in a risky manner and crashes into the side of another automobile. Also known as “side-impact collision,” this type of crash occurs at intersections when people ignore the traffic light or stop sign.
Establishing the At-Fault Party
As mentioned, it can be challenging to prove fault and liability in a multi-vehicle accident. All parties may have contributed to the crash and determining their liability could become complicated.
There should be a thorough investigation to establish fault or at least the degree/percentage of liability of each party. You may also share some responsibility, so you need all the assistance you can get in understanding what happened during the accident. Enlist the help of a lawyer to be sure that you can push for your best interest.
Also, take note that New Jersey upholds the law of comparative negligence for multi-car accidents. Under this law, each party in the incident will bear some percentage of the fault depending on their level of oversight.
The percentage that will be assigned to each party will tell you the amount of compensation they must pay you. For instance, if you have a $10,000 lawsuit and one party bears 60% liability, the other one at 30% liability and the other at 10% then they would be obliged to pay you $6,000, $3,000, and $1,000 respectively. It’s still possible to recover compensation even if you bear a percentage of the fault. So long as you no more than 50% liable, then compensation is possible. Otherwise, the court will just dismiss your claim. If, however, you are around 30% at fault then you can only claim as much as $7,000 of compensation.
More importantly, you must file your claim within two years from the time the incident happened or when you sustained the injuries. There is a statute of limitations in New Jersey which sets a limit of when you have the right to sue due to the accident.
To ensure that your case proceeds successfully, hire a lawyer. He or she can tell you how to process your case, including determining your best option to get the compensation you deserve. Contact us at The Grossman Law Firm, LLC to find the right lawyer for your situation.
