Who is responsible for an auto accident?

Car accidents can happen for many reasons. The basic elements of an auto or truck accident are similar to any negligence claim. To prove someone acted in a negligent manner causing recoverable damages in a vehicle accident, you need to prove:

• A duty (i.e. to drive safely)
  
  
• Breach of the duty (i.e. negligence)
  
  
• Causation (i.e. breach of the duty caused) of your
  
  
• Damages [resulting from the breach of duty] 

To prove that someone was negligent, it must be shown that the defendant, or other driver, was negligent.  In other words, you must prove that the other driver failed to use ordinary, or reasonable care, under the circumstances.  This can be proven more easily if a traffic law was broken.

We are all under a duty to use reasonable care when operating a car or other motor vehicle.  Reasonable care included obeying traffic signals, traffic controls, and following the rules of the road.

Examples of negligent driving leading to an auto accident are:

• Failure to keep a proper lookout
  
  
• Failure to control speed
  
• • speeding
  • driving too slowly for conditions
    
    
• Following too closely behind another driver
  
  
• Failing to yield right-of-way
  
  
• Going through a red light or failing to stop at a stop sign
  
• • running a red light
    
    
• failure to control the car
  
  
• Failure to use the brakes in the vehicle
  
  
• Failing to use the horn
  
  
• Failing to use a turn signal correctly
  
  
• Driving while impaired
  
  
• driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
  
  
• Driving on the wrong side of the road
  
  
• driving carelessly through a parking lot

This is not an exhaustive list as there literally hundreds of examples in which a driver fails to use ordinary care resulting in a traffic accident.

Once it is established that the other driver is responsible for the car accident, then you must prove that the negligent driver was the "proximate cause" of your personal injury.  "Proximate cause" means a cause which, in a natural and continuous sequence, produces an event, and without which cause such event would not have occurred. In other words, "but for" the other driver's negligence, you would not have been injured.

Once negligence and causation are established, it is required that you prove that your personal injury, or wrongful death of loved one, resulted from that negligent driving or the other driver's negligent actions.

The most common damages available in a Florida accident injury case are the following:

• Past and future physical pain and suffering
  
  
• Permanent scarring
  
  
• Permanent disfigurement
  
  
• Past and future physical impairment or disability
  
  
• Loss of consortium
  
  
• Loss of past wages or salary
  
  
• Loss of future income or future earning capacity
  
  
• Past medical expenses
  
  
• Future medical expenses

In cases of gross negligence, or recklessness, punitive damages may be available.

In addition to the driver being liable for negligence, in Florida, the vehicle owner may also be held liable under the "dangerous instrumentality doctrine." In sum, the dangerous instrumentality doctrine holds that the vehicle is a dangerous instrument, and that the owner is responsible for damages caused by that dangerous instrument (car, SUV, vehicle, etc.) if someone else operates that vehicle in a negligent, or careless, manner.

Similarly, an employer may be held liable for the negligent driving of its employee if the employee was in the course and scope of employment (or "on the clock" for the employer) when the car accident occurred.

If you or a dear one has suffered a personal injury as the result of a vehicle accident or car accident, then contact an experienced personal injury lawyer and car accident attorneys for a prompt assessment of your accident claim.