Liability is the question at the center of every Missouri car accident claim: who was legally at fault, and how much of the fault belongs to each person involved. Missouri is an at-fault state, so the driver who caused the crash (through their insurance) is responsible for the resulting harm. That makes proving liability the foundation of any recovery.
Reach out to a car crash lawyer in St. Louis to pursue compensation for your injuries.
Call our firm at (314) 300-6260 today.
You Must Prove Negligence
Most car accident liability comes down to negligence, which means failing to use reasonable care behind the wheel. To hold another driver liable, you generally need to show four things:
Duty of Care
Every driver on the road owes a duty of care to everyone around them. Simply by getting behind the wheel, a driver takes on the legal obligation to drive with reasonable care, which means obeying traffic laws, paying attention, and operating the vehicle safely. This element is rarely disputed in car accident cases, because the duty applies to every driver automatically.
Breach of Duty
A breach happens when a driver fails to live up to that duty. This is usually something like speeding, following too closely, running a red light, texting behind the wheel, driving drunk, or failing to yield. The question is whether the driver did something a reasonably careful driver wouldn’t have done, or failed to do something a reasonably careful driver would have.
Causation
It isn’t enough that the other driver was careless. Their carelessness has to be what actually caused the crash and your injuries. Causation becomes a fight when the insurance company argues that something else was responsible, like another vehicle, road conditions, or a health problem you had before the accident. Connecting the breach to the crash, and the crash to your specific injuries, is essential.
Damages
Lastly, you have to show that you suffered actual harm as a result. Damages can include your medical bills, lost wages, vehicle damage, and pain and suffering. Without damages, there’s no claim, even if the other driver was clearly careless.
An important thing to know is that liability doesn’t always end up on another driver, or even if it does, it might extend to other parties as well. Depending on the facts, an employer can be liable for an employee driving on the job, a bar can face liability for overserving a visibly intoxicated patron in limited circumstances, and a manufacturer can be liable when a vehicle defect caused or worsened the crash.
Missouri’s Pure Comparative Fault Rule
Missouri uses pure comparative fault when it comes to car accident cases, which means fault can be divided among everyone involved, and your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. If your damages are $100,000 and you were 20% at fault, you can recover $80,000. No matter how much responsibility is placed on you, you can still recover reduced compensation.
How Liability Gets Proven
Fault is established with evidence, and the common types generally include:
- The police report: The responding officer’s observations, diagram, and any citations issued.
- Photos and video: Scene photos, vehicle damage, traffic cameras, doorbell cameras, and dashcams.
- Witness statements: Independent witnesses can play a big role in the accident by sharing what they observed and who they saw cause the accident.
- Physical evidence: Skid marks, debris fields, and the location and severity of vehicle damage.
- Expert analysis: In disputed cases, accident reconstruction experts can determine speeds, angles, and timing, and provide an opinion on who caused the crash.
- Electronic data: Modern vehicles record speed and braking data, and phone records can show whether a driver was texting.
Gathering evidence and establishing fault can be difficult by yourself. A injury lawyer in St. Louis can investigate the crash while the evidence still exists, push back when the insurer tries to inflate your share of fault, and bring in the experts when needed. Our team is here to help.
Call today at (314) 300-6260 to schedule a free consultation.