Identifying Fault in an Accident

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Workplace Injuries and Summer Jobs
Workplace Injuries and Summer Jobs
July 13, 2022
Am I Liable if Someone Else Causes Accident While Driving My Car in Connecticut
“Am I Liable if Someone Else Causes Accident While Driving My Car in Connecticut?”
October 25, 2022

Connecticut residents and visitors suffer from a variety of accidents each year. The most common accidents occurring include car accidents, boating accidents, construction site accidents, and slip and fall accidents. Often, these accidents can be traced back to the negligence of a third party, and are someone else’s fault.

After an injury accident, you should immediately contact Tindall Law Firm, LLC with offices in Waterbury and West Hartford, Connecticut (after seeking medical treatment). Your attorney will then begin to investigate your injuries and the cause of the accident to determine if there was negligence and who may have been responsible for your accident. Once the facts of your accident have been reviewed you will be advised if you have the right to make a claim for accident-related compensation.

Three things we will investigate to identify the fault in an accident:

  • Was the incident causing your injuries caused by a person or organization that owed you what the law calls a “duty of care?” “Duty of care” is a requirement that a person acts toward others and the public with the same degree of watchfulness, attention, caution, and prudence that a “reasonable person” in the same circumstances would use. If a person’s actions do not meet this standard of care, then the acts or failure to act by this person, are considered a breach of the duty of care that he/she/the organization owed you, and are therefore considered negligent. Any damages resulting may be claimed in a lawsuit for negligence. (Source: dictionary.law.com)  Was the other party legally responsible to keep you safe?  An example of this would be that a business or property owner owes a duty of care for clients/visitors to ensure their safety and advise them of any potential hazards on their property.
  • Did the person/business/property owner violate their duty of care resulting in your accident with injuries? Suppose, for example, while visiting a local retail shop in Waterbury your foot catches on a tear in the older, worn floor covering and you fall causing injuries to your ankle and back. You are not aware of the defective floor covering until it is too late and you have already fallen. You would not have expected upon entering the business that it contained this hidden or latent defect. If the person business/premises owner was negligent in the care of their property and failed to maintain the flooring, leaving unrepaired damage leading to your unfortunate accident, then they would be held liable under the law for causing these injuries.
  • Were your injuries a direct result of the person/business/property owner‘s responsibility to live up to the duty of care owed to their clients and visitors? To be able to file for negligence in a personal injury claim, you will be required to prove that the liable person/business/property owner‘s failure to act a reasonably person, directly caused your accident and injuries. If you did not suffer any injury, damages or losses at all even if you fell down, for e.g., due to a defect on their premises, you will not have grounds for pursuing a personal injury claim. Also if it is determined that your injuries, losses and damages were not directly caused by the negligence of the person or business, then you will not have a claim. For instance, if you fell down by tripping over your shoestrings that you failed to tie, and it had nothing to do with any defect on the premises that may exist, then under the law you cannot recover any compensation. Another example would be though you did not fall or become injured, if you noticed a defectively installed handrail in a business, you do not have grounds for a personal injury claim. This is because though there is a defect on the premises it did not cause you any injury, losses or damages.  However, under the circumstances of this last example, you should do the right thing and advise staff of your discovery to help prevent a possible injury to another party in the future.

The Tindall Law Firm, LLC, provides experienced representation to injury victims and their families in Connecticut. We understand your concerns because we have helped thousands of people who were faced with the same issues after a serious injury or a wrongful death for the last 25 years. We will carefully look at all parties involved in our client’s incident, and thoroughly investigate any possible situations that may have contributed to the accident resulting in your injuries. In some cases, there may be more than one party negligent.

 To schedule a free consultation with a Waterbury personal injury lawyer, please call  203.755.0018 today.