Not all members of the public appreciate the required link between negligence and a personal injury claim. Consequently, personal injury lawyers try to call attention to instances of neglectful behavior, in hopes of reducing the number of accidents.
Negligence represents a failure to demonstrate the expected level of care.
A neglectful action differs markedly from what a reasonable person would do in a similar circumstance. A neglectful individual might also fail to perform an action that would be carried out by a reasonable person, if he or she were caught in a similar situation. If one person’s negligence causes another individual to get injured, then the injured party has the right to seek compensation from the at-fault party.
Elements that must be proved by any claimant that hopes to win a personal injury case:
The defendant (the party at-fault) had a duty of care towards the claimant (the injured party). A defendant’s actions would demonstrate performance of a duty of care if those same actions seemed like a reasonable way to prevent an accident. At times a defendant’s exhibition of restraint from the taking of a given action could be viewed as the required aspect of a duty of care.
The defendant breached that duty of care. The defendant’s actions did not match with the actions expected from a reasonable person. The legal system does not require that every individual tries to live a perfect life. Still, it does ask members of the public to show a heightened level of care, when the situation warrants the demonstration of a caring attitude towards others.
State governments have rules governing the conduct of drivers. If a motorist fails to care about the other motorists on the road, the state will need to exert an added effort into keeping the roads safe. Consequently, state governments expect drivers to exercise a heightened level of care.
Finally, the personal injury lawyer in Grand Prairie must prove that the defendant’s acts caused the claimant’s injury. Insurance companies can make it hard for claimants to prove that last element. Insurers have developed a few tricks.
Sometimes an insurance company focuses on the length of time that has passed between the time of the accident and the date when the accident victim visited a medical facility or a doctor’s office. If more than 24 hours has passed between those 2 events, an insurer might claim that the injury was aggravated during that period of time.
Alternately, an insurance company might charge the victim with comparative negligence. It might claim that something the victim did, or did not do, made the injury more serious than it might have been. For instance, insurers check to see if an injured passenger wore a seat belt.