Being involved in traffic accidents is something nobody wants to experience. The big problem is we naturally do not know much about them. We might think we do but we do not because there are specific laws involved that we do not really understand without legal knowledge. Whenever involved in a traffic accident, you need to contact professionals like Detroit truck accident lawyers to help you. However, at the same time, the more you know, the better your choices. This is why you have to be aware of the following things.
What Will Determine Fault?
In most cases, this is all about determining the party that was negligent. Some official rules exist that tell you how you should drive. There are thus guidelines that have to be consulted when measuring liability. Traffic laws are obvious rules you have to respect and if you do not and a car accident happened, you are most likely at fault.
There are cases in which violations are quite obvious, like when you run the stop sign. In other cases though, the violation is not obvious, like when 2 drivers merge in a single lane.
For negligence to be proven, there are three things that need to happen:
- A driver has to be required to be careful by law.
- A driver was not careful in a reasonable manner.
- The conduct of the driver is what led to the damage or injury.
Being Rear-Ended
Rear-ended crashes are very common so you should know that in most situations, the party at fault is the vehicle driver that hits the other driver from behind. It does not matter why the vehicle in front stopped. It is required that all drivers maintain a distance that can lead to safe braking. When rear-ending another car, it is usually considered that you did not respect that distance.
What should be known though is that there are cases in which the vehicle that was rear-ended is considered at fault. For instance, if you are in a parking lot and you start backing your car without any warning, you are the one that causes the accident. It is also possible that you were involved in chain reaction car accidents. In this situation, an investigation has to determine exactly who was at fault.
You Should Never Leave The Scene Of An Accident
People are tempted to leave the site of car accidents when only vehicle damages exist and they are minor. You should never do this because you never know what the intentions of the other vehicle owners are. You might be faced with the unwanted situation in which a claim is filed against you. Having the police on site to file a report is your only real protection.
The only other thing we should highlight is that car accidents can be very complex, even if you do not think this is the case. This is why you should never file any claim without the help of an experienced attorney that can help you go through the entire process in a proper way.
