What Happens If You Are Injured And Partially At Fault In An Accident

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Personal injury lawyers understand the importance of investigating and analyzing the facts and circumstances of an accident when representing someone who has suffered an injury. They are looking for evidence to prove that someone’s negligence caused the accident and the resulting injuries. Sometimes, the evidence reveals the accident or the injuries were caused in whole or in part by the negligence of the injured party. Ontario personal injury law takes this into account and provides rules for situations when the plaintiff, which is the injured party filing the claim, is proven to be at fault.

Four Elements of Negligence

As you go about your daily activities, the law imposes upon you a duty to do so in a way that does not create an unreasonable risk of causing harm to other people. For example, if you are driving to work in the morning, the standard of care required of you is to maintain control over your vehicle and obey traffic laws and the rules of the road. Speeding or texting while driving violates the duty of care society and its laws expect of motorists.

You might have a claim for damages based upon negligence if your lawyer can prove Negligence is when your behavior violates the standard of care expected of you when engaged in a particular behaviour, and requires proof of the each of the following:

• The defendant, the person being sued, owed you a duty to act in a reasonably prudent manner;
• The defendant breached the duty owed to you;
• You suffered injuries or monetary loss; and
• The defendant’s breach of duty was the cause of the injuries or losses you suffered.

Another example of a duty of care is the one created for property owners in the downtown area of Toronto. Property owners must remove snow from sidewalks within 12 hours when it fell. If you slip and fall on snow left on a sidewalk by the property owner more than 12 hours after the snowfall, there has been a breach of the duty of care established by the sidewalk clearing law for which you could recover damages.

Plaintiff’s Contributory Negligence

If you are crossing the street and a car hits you, evidence of the driver texting while driving and the fact you suffered a serious head injury because of being hit could entitle you to collect damages. However, if the defendant produces witnesses who saw you step out from between two parked cars making it difficult to be seen by oncoming traffic, your behaviour could affect the amount of compensation a judge or jury awards to you.

The Ontario Negligence Act requires a judge or jury to determine the degree to which a plaintiff’s fault contributed to causing an accident or the injuries. For instance, if a jury decides

you were 20 percent negligent for crossing in the middle of the road and stepping out between parked vehicles, the damages awarded to you would be reduced by 20 percent. When the judge or jury cannot determine the relative degrees of fault of the plaintiff and the defendant, each party is deemed equally at fault in causing the accident.

Ontario Personal Injury Lawyers

The personal injury lawyers at Diamond & Diamond have years of experience successfully handling claims for compensation by people injured due the negligence of others. If you suffer an injury and need to file a claim, you should speak to one of our lawyers. Call the Diamond & Diamond 24/7 injury hotline at 1-800-567-HURT or visit our website to speak to someone now. We offer free consultations and case evaluations to injury victims throughout Ontario.

#AskTJGogna

Personal injury lawyers understand the importance of investigating and analyzing the facts and circumstances of an accident when representing someone who has suffered an injury. They are looking for evidence to prove that someone’s negligence caused the accident and the resulting injuries. Sometimes, the evidence reveals the accident or the injuries were caused in whole or in part by the negligence of the injured party. Ontario personal injury law takes this into account and provides rules for situations when the plaintiff, which is the injured party filing the claim, is proven to be at fault.