How is fault in a car accident determined?

Is there a need for an accident lawyer?

If you have been involved in a car accident in Dayton Ohio, you are best served to work with an experienced accident lawyer, like the associates at Gounaris Denslow Abboud, Co. There are more than six million police-reported traffic accidents a year according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with an estimated cost of over $165 billion. With such high figures, it is reasonable to expect to be involved in an auto accident at some point.

There are many things of importance after an accident, but very few larger than liability. Determining liability in a car accident is often much more complicated than simply deciding who was "at-fault." This is because of the many different ways fault can be assigned. It can be spread among multiple parties or be entirely the fault of one driver. Also, fault can lie with a third party such as an auto manufacturer or negligence of the state in road condition.

Thus, determining fault is a very difficult and important thing to do. Therefore, if involved in a car accident, you need a talented accident lawyer on your side. Generally it is the fault of one or more drivers that leads to most car accidents. In order to prove that you are not at fault and that blame should be laid at the other driver you need to prove that a specific law or rule of the road was broken, This is where an accident lawyer can assist you and law enforcement determine negligence or recklessness on the part of the other driver.

Generally negligent driving is defined as failing to be reasonably careful or doing something that the average person should recognize may cause harm to another. This could be the other driver failing to properly maintain his or her vehicle or not follow a specific traffic rule.

Sometimes, it isn't a drivers actions that cause the accident. Maybe there is a dangerous piece of road or debris, or a defect in the automobile, possibly the traffic sign or signal is broken or malfunctioning. The blame might reside with the other driver, the manufacturer, or the government respectively in those cases.

To add another wrinkle into car accidents, the vast majority involve insurance and the issues that that brings. This is another reason an accident lawyer is in your best interest. In Ohio, all drivers are required to be properly insured and covered by liability insurance. This in theory should make it easy to collect once fault is determined, however insurance companies are notorious for making it difficult to collect or to offer very low payments to unsuspecting victims.

If you are in an accident, make sure you remain calm, exchange all relevant information and write down everything you can remember about the accident to help the investigation later. Be sure that an accident lawyer is contacted quickly as well to ensure you receive the proper assistance to minimize the difficulty these events bring.

Contact the Ohio personal injury attorney team of Gounaris Denslow Abboud, Co., LPA for your free case analysis at (937) 222-1515.