subject: Seriously Injured Bicyclist Compensated For Injuries Sustained In Motor Vehicle Accident [print this page] Each State has its unique laws that regulate lawsuits for motor vehicle accidents. For instance, every State has a version of a law called a Statue of Limitations the quantity of time following the accident within which the plaintiff must file his or her claim. A different very critical law regulates if, and the amount, a plaintiff can get compensated if the plaintiff is in some measure responsible for the accident.
Take into account, for example, the documented lawsuit wherein a nineteen year old woman was hit by a motor vehicle as she was going across an intersection with her bicycle. The collision threw her off her bicycle and she was then hit and dragged by a second vehicle. She suffered a variety of substantial injuries including an injury to her leg which led to an above the knee amputation. According to one report witnesses to the accident pointed out that the plaintiff entered the intersection while she had a red light. The law firm that took the case documented that it took the case to trial. The jury concluded that the city and the first motor vehicle driver were thirteen percent responsible and the second driver twelve percent to blame.
At the completion of the trial the jury found that the woman was seventy five percent responsible for the accident. In a number of States the law requires that the plaintiff be less than 50% at fault in order to recover any damages. The law in the State where this accident occurred permitted her to get compensation regardless that the jury found that she was more than 50% to blame for the accident. But under the relevant State law her recovery would only be proportional to her level of fault. Thus, while the jury awarded $1.8 million, she was only able to recover 25%, or $450,000.
Many people inaccurately hold the idea that if they were mostly at fault for a motor vehicle accident that they are not eligible to recover for their injuries. It is therefore important for anyone injured in a motor vehicle accident to contact a skilled motor vehicle accident attorney so as to figure out whether they are correct in their believe that they were mostly to blame or whether, legally, another person was in fact responsible. And even in case the plaintiff was actually legally at fault for the accident, the lawyer will advise them on whether the applicable laws would even so permit the plaintiff to be compensated, and if so, the way in which the amount be determined.
Only a competent attorney can properly evaluate a potential claim under the applicable laws. Also, an experienced attorney will also know the range of awards juries in the venue where the case would be tried typically give for the plaintiff's injuries.
