In many car accident cases, there is one party who acted negligently and another party who was blameless. For instance, in a case where one driver is rear-ended by another driver at a stoplight, the first driver did nothing wrong, and the second driver acted negligently.
In other cases, it’s not entirely clear who was at fault. Sometimes, multiple parties may have been at fault.
Can an injured person recover compensation for their damages if they were partly at fault for their accident? New Jersey law says yes. However, there is an important limitation.
Comparative Negligence
New Jersey law follows a model known as comparative negligence. Under this system, an injured person can recover compensation for the damages they suffered in an accident so long as their share of the fault for the accident was less than the share held by the person against whom they are seeking compensation.
Comparative negligence applies in many types of cases, but it’s easiest to understand how this works in a car accident, case. In a case involving a two-car accident, this means the person seeking compensation cannot hold more than 50% of the fault for the accident. In a multi-vehicle accident, it means the person seeking compensation cannot recover from any party who holds less of the fault than they do. In either case, the injured person’s recovery is reduced in proportion to their share of the fault.
Example
By way of illustration, imagine an accident in which cars driven by Robert and Simon collide. Robert is injured and files suit against Simon seeking $100,00 in damages.
The court examines the evidence and finds that, shortly before the accident, Robert had failed to signal before changing lanes and was therefore 25% at fault for the accident. Because Robert’s share of fault was less than Simon’s, Robert can recover compensation from Simon. However, Robert’s recovery must be reduced in proportion to his share of fault. This means Robert’s recovery is reduced by 25%, He can recover no more than $75,000.
Now let’s imagine that the accident involved a third driver, Reeves. After examining the evidence, the court finds Robert was 25% at fault, Simon 20% and Reeves 55%. In this case, Robert cannot recover against Simon, but may recover against Reeves.
Those who have been injured in an accident should speak with an experienced personal injury attorney. They may have more options for compensation than they know.