Were you hurt in an accident? If your accident was caused by another party’s negligence, you have the right to seek compensation for your injuries through a personal injury claim. How do you prove negligence? The short answer is that you need comprehensive, compelling evidence. Negligence is the failure to take proper care. What exactly it means varies based on the specific case. Here, our Gilbert personal injury attorneys explain the key things to know about how negligence is established in Arizona.
Background: What is Negligence?
Arizona is a fault-based personal injury state. To hold another party legally responsible for your injuries, you must prove that they were at fault for your accident. In most personal injury cases in Arizona—from motor vehicle collisions to slip and fall accidents—fault is based on negligence.
Negligence is a legal concept that refers to the failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would under similar circumstances. In personal injury claims in Arizona, establishing negligence requires proving each of the following four elements:
- A duty of care;
- Breach of the duty of care;
- Causation between breach and harm; and
- Actual damages to the victim.
Arizona is a Pure Comparative Negligence State
Multiple parties can share responsibility for the same accident in Gilbert. In fact, the victim may even be partially responsible for his or her own accident. Under Arizona law (A.R.S. § 12-2505), a pure comparative negligence standard applies to personal injury claims in our state. In this framework, each party involved in an accident is assigned a percentage of fault, and their ability to recover damages is adjusted accordingly.
For example, imagine that you were hurt in a multi-car wreck in Gilbert and you sustained $50,000 in total damages. However, an investigation revealed that you were 30 percent at fault for the crash because you were speeding. Under Arizona’s pure comparative fault standard, you would be liable for 30 percent of your own damages. You could only recover $35,000 from the other party. You would bear fault for $15,000 (30 percent) of your own damages.
An Overview of Evidence that Can Be Used to Prove Negligence
Hurt in an accident in Gilbert or elsewhere in Arizona? To prove negligence, you will need access to comprehensive evidence. Indeed, evidence helps to build the foundation for any successful personal injury cases. What evidence is relevant? It depends entirely on the specific circumstances of your case. Some of the most common types of evidence that can be used to help prove negligence in a personal injury claim in Arizona include:
- Your Account: Your personal account of the incident provides a detailed perspective of the events leading up to and during the accident. Indeed, your testimony is crucial for establishing the sequence of events that contributed to the incident.
- Photos/Videos: Photos and videos from the accident scene are compelling forms of evidence. They provide concrete, date-stamped proof of damage, road conditions, and other situational factors that can help determine what exactly happened.
- Witness Statements: The testimony of an eyewitness can be extremely compelling in a personal injury case in Arizona. Witnesses can offer critical insights that might not be apparent from the primary accounts of the involved parties.
- Police Report: Typically, with a motor vehicle collision, there will be an accident report. The police report contains an objective summary of the accident, often including the officer’s observations and initial judgments about who was at fault.
- Expert Testimony: Expert testimony—potentially from an accident reconstruction specialist—can provide authoritative insights into the causes and effects of the accident. Expert testimony is typically only required in complex personal injury claims.
Get Help From Our Gilbert, AZ Personal Injury Lawyer Today
At Free Injury Legal Advice, our Gilbert personal injury attorneys put the rights and interests of clients first. If you have any questions about proving negligence, we can help. Reach out to us by phone now or connect with us online for your no-cost case review. With a law office in Gilbert, we fight for the rights of injured victims in Maricopa County and all across the wider region of Arizona.