Whether a state follows a contributory or comparative negligence regime, the fault rules have a significant impact on personal injury claims. These rules are designed to allocate the compensation to the accident victims based on their percentage of fault. Different states follow different rules and understanding them can go a long way in seeking justice and pursuing compensation for your personal injury damages.
New York follows a pure comparative fault rule, meaning that if an accident victim is even mostly at fault, they’re still entitled to compensation. While this can provide peace of mind for accident victims, shared responsibility calls for a professional New York personal injury lawyer who can fight for minimally reducing your compensation based on your contribution to the accident.
Pure contributory negligence is a very strict rule and not many states follow it. Under pure contributory negligence, if the victim is even 0.01% at fault, they are barred from seeking compensation. Of course, this system can leave victims without recourse even when their fault is minimal.
A handful of states follow the pure comparative fault rule. The system allows multiple parties involved in the accident to seek compensation even if they were partly or mostly responsible for the accident. For example, if the total of damages is $100,000 and the victim is 40% at fault, they may be entitled to receive compensation of $60,000. Compared to pure contributory negligence, the comparative fault system is more favorable for victims, giving them a chance to recover damages even if they’re 99% at fault.
The majority of states follow modified comparative fault systems, which is like a middle ground between the two above. This system determines a threshold for fault, under which the victim cannot seek compensation. This threshold is usually 50% or 51%. In other words, if the victim’s responsibility exceeds the given threshold, they are barred from recovering damages.
Known as New York’s Comparative Fault Law the NY CPLR Section 1411 stipulates pure comparative negligence, meaning that an injured party is entitled to compensation even if he or she is responsible for the accident to a large extent. In accordance with this law, the court allocates a portion of the blame of an injured person and all the other involved parties and then diminishes the overall compensation by the percentages of blame that each of the parties received.
For instance, if the amount of damages is $50,000 and the victim is 25% at fault, the victim would only get $37,500. If there are several defendants, each one would be held liable in proportion to their degree of fault in the accident, affecting the distribution of damages. This approach results in a better outcome for victims, because they can recover damages regardless of their degree of fault in contrast to states that observe a pure contributory negligence rule.
New York’s comparative laws favor accident victims when it comes to pursuing compensation. But, at the same time, this victim-friendly nature of the law calls for aggressive advocacy to ensure the victim is not assigned fault in an accident where they were not negligent or minimally negligent. If you are considering filing a personal injury claim in New York, don’t do it alone. Contact us today and schedule a free consultation. Our lawyers will help you pursue the compensation you rightfully deserve.
