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7780 Westmoreland Drive
(On U.S. 41 by the Airport at the corner
of Westmoreland)
Sarasota, Florida 34243
(941) 358-5400
Fax (941) 358-5477
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What If I Feel Partly Responsible for the Accident That Hurt
Me?
by
Tom Hudson and Lawrence R. Diamond
The Hudson Law Office
This is one of the most common questions we get
from persons who have been injured in an accident.
After all, it is not unusual for more than one person to
contribute to an auto crash. Perhaps someone
turned in front of you, but you were going a little too
fast. Doesn't that mean that you can't recover for
your injuries?
In Florida, the answer is no. You can still
recover something for your
injuries, even if you are partly responsible.
Many people think that if they contributed to their own
injuries, they cannot file a claim for personal
injuries. In some states this may be true. The common
law defense of contributory negligence which originated
in England would bar a person from recovery if the
injured person himself was even 1% negligent. Over the
years, many state legislatures deemed this result too
harsh and modified this rule.
Florida has adopted a pure comparative
fault statute which allows
an injured party to make a claim for personal injuries
even if they had some fault or responsibility for their
own injuries. Section 768.81 of the Florida Statutes
provides as follows:
768.81 Comparative
fault.-
...
EFFECT OF CONTRIBUTORY FAULT.- In an action to which
this section applies, any contributory fault chargeable
to the claimant diminishes proportionately the amount
awarded as economic and noneconomic damages for an
injury attributable to the claimant's contributory
fault, but does not bar recovery....
What does that mean? It is very simple. Lets say that a
Jury awarded $10000 in damages but found you were 60% at
fault for your own injuries. Under the old common law
you would recover nothing. However, in Florida, you
would be awarded 40% or $4000. In other words, you
would recover for the amount of damage caused by the
other guy's negligence, but not for your own.
How is that percentage determined? In theory, the
jury apportions the percentage of each party's
negligence. In practice, however, very few cases
go to juries. So it falls to the parties, the
insurance company and their lawyers to
estimate what a typical jury
would decide about a particular case.
At the Hudson Law Office, we aggressively pursue claims
on behalf of our clients even if they may have
contributed to their own damages. It is of the utmost
importance to fully evaluate a potential claim in light
of our state statutes and the facts as they would be
presented to a jury. Even if you may have had some
responsibility for your own injuries, our state
legislature believes that you are entitled to recover
some monetary damages for your injuries. Remember, at
the Hudson Law Office, we are on your side! |
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