Motor Vehicle
Accidents
Overview
Motor vehicle
accidents are the cause of hundreds of thousands of injuries and
deaths each year. These accidents involve cars, trucks, common
carriers, motorcycles, and pedestrians. Basic negligence laws apply
except when a common carrier injures a passenger.
The Law Controlling
Motor Vehicle Accidents
| The judge will instruct the
jury that "a person must use reasonable care in driving a
vehicle. Drivers must keep a lookout for pedestrians,
obstacles, and other vehicles. They must also control the
speed and movement of their vehicles. The failure to
use reasonable care in driving a vehicle is
negligence".CACI
700
(CACI are the approved
jury instructions from the Judicial Council of California.
Jury instructions are read to the jury by the judge
and establish the law the jury must follow in deciding the
case. A partner of Cheong, Denove, Rowell & Bennett has been
formally recognized as one of the attorneys who assisted the
task force in the preparation of these jury instructions.)
For related information go to
Negligence Law.
If the plaintiff was injured while riding on a bus or
taxi, the law imposes upon the driver a higher duty or care
than just reasonable care. To learn more about this go to
Actions Against Common Carriers.
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Client's vehicle after rollover, caused by impact from
tractor trailer.
Click to Enlarge |
If the accident involves a
pedestrian, the judge will instruct the jury that "the duty to use
reasonable care does not require the same amount of caution from
drivers and pedestrians. While both drivers and pedestrians must be
aware that motor vehicles can cause serious injuries, drivers must
use more care than pedestrians." CACI 710
Some people believe that if they have
the right-of-way, they cannot be responsible for an accident.
Although the law requires a driver or a pedestrian to let the other
go first depending on who has right-of-way, the judge will instruct
the jury that "even if someone has the right-of-way, that person
must use reasonable care to avoid an accident."
CACI 701
Speed is often involved as a cause of
accidents. The law requires that a person drive at a reasonable
speed. The jury decides whether a particular speed is reasonable
based on the circumstances such as traffic, weather, visibility, and
road conditions. Drivers must not drive so fast that they create a
danger to people or property. If the defendant or the plaintiff was
not driving at a reasonable speed at the time of the accident, then
that person was negligent.
The judge will instruct a jury that
"the speed limit is a factor to consider when you decide whether or
not the plaintiff or defendant was negligent. A driver is not
necessarily negligent because he or she was driving faster than the
speed limit. However, a driver may be negligent even if he or she
was driving at or below the speed limit." CACI 707
|
Braking Collision at 35mph
Braking Collision at 42mph
Accident
reconstructions
used during direct
examination of the
expert witness.
Click each image to Enlarge |
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The California Vehicle Code sets forth the law concerning
what drivers and pedestrians can or cannot do. If either the
plaintiff or the defendant violates one of these laws, the
judge may tell the jury what the law is and that a violation
of that law might constitute
negligence.
If the injured plaintiff was not
using a working available seat belt, the jury could conclude that
the plaintiff was negligent. The issues involved are whether a
reasonably careful person in plaintiff's situation would have used
the seatbelt and more importantly, whether, based on expert
testimony, plaintiff's injuries would have been avoided or less
severe if he or she had used the seatbelt.
The Use of Experts in Motor Vehicle Accident Cases
Some motor
vehicle accident cases do not require the use of an expert witness
to establish liability. Other cases depend on expert testimony. The
most frequently used experts in these types of cases are accident
reconstructionists. An accident reconstructionist can be
used to determine speed, location and movement of vehicles and
pedestrians. An accident reconstructionist might also be able to
determine whether one of the parties had the ability to see a
potential hazard and had time to react to it. Demonstrative evidence
is often used to assist the jury in visualizing and understanding
accident reconstruction testimony.
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Liability of Owners
of Motor Vehicles
The owner of a motor vehicle is
responsible for the injury and damage caused by the negligence of
the person the owner allows to drive his or her vehicle. The law
limits the owner's liability to $15,000 for personal injury of one
person, and $30,000 for the death or injury to more than one person,
and $5,000 for property damage. The owner will be held responsible
for the full amount of the damages if the defendant gave a minor (a
person under the age of 18) permission to operate a vehicle and the
minor was negligent.
A defendant is also responsible for
the full amount of the damages if the plaintiff was harmed because
he or she negligently permitted a driver to use the vehicle. To
prevail on this theory, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant
knew, or should have known, that the driver was incompetent or unfit
to drive the vehicle. This is referred to as "negligent
entrustment."
Conclusion
Proving liability and obtaining just
compensation for injuries sustained and damages caused in a motor
vehicle accident is not as easy as it may seem. The attorneys at
Cheong, Denove, Rowell & Bennett have authored numerous articles and
have lectured extensively to other attorneys on motor vehicle
accident cases and trial practice.
Cheong,
Denove, Rowell & Bennett
has the extensive resources to handle the most complex legal
matters, yet is small enough to offer individualized service to
our clients.
At Cheong,
Denove, Rowell & Bennett we believe the more you know,
the better choice you will make.
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