I Might Have Caused the Car Accident–Should I Still Call a Lawyer?

It can be hard to know whether a lawyer can help you after a car accident in Georgia. Lawyers can’t heal injuries or repair your vehicle, and you don’t need legal assistance after every fender bender. But in many situations, an attorney can help you obtain compensation from those responsible for causing the collision, and that compensation can enable you to obtain the right medical care, replace your vehicle, and obtain justice for the suffering you’ve endured because of the accident.

What happens, though, if you’re one of the people responsible for causing the accident? After all, a collision is usually a result of several factors that combine to put vehicles together in the wrong place at the wrong time. If your actions helped cause the accident, then you might think there’s not much an attorney can do for you.

And you might also be wrong in thinking that. Georgia has a comparative fault rule that enables accident victims to recover compensation in many situations even if their actions contributed to the cause of the accident. It’s often hard to know for sure why a collision occurred until someone undertakes an extensive investigation into the issue of causation. An experienced accident attorney knows how to conduct this type of investigation.

A knowledgeable personal injury attorney can also tell you whether they can help in your case or whether you need to pursue another course of action. Here are some of the issues that could affect that answer.

Liability 101: Determining Who’s at Fault for Causing a Car Accident

Most motor vehicle collisions are not the result of deliberate or even reckless behavior. They are accidental. Collisions frequently occur because someone is not doing what they should be doing. This is generally referred to as negligence.

Drivers have an obligation to take great care while operating their vehicles on the road. For instance, they are expected to look at the street in front of them rather than at their cell phone. They are expected to keep their vehicles in safe operating order instead of driving with bad brakes or worn tires. They need to be sober and alert when they get behind the wheel. And they’re expected to obey speed limits and traffic signals.

Overall, drivers are expected to exercise reasonable care for the safety of others while driving, and when they don’t and their actions cause an accident, they can be held legally liable for any harm that results.

How do you determine when someone’s irresponsible conduct caused an accident? It requires an intensive examination of evidence such as skid mark patterns on the road surface, videos from traffic cameras, witness statements, photos of damage to vehicles, and injury patterns on accident victims. Experienced accident attorneys know how to collect and preserve this evidence, which is one reason it is important to consult an attorney as soon as possible after an accident. They can help acquire evidence when it is fresh. In many cases, however, even seasoned attorneys hire engineers and accident experts who can provide a detailed analysis of the factors that led to the collision.

Georgia’s Rules on Comparative Fault

Under traditional old rules, which are now only followed in a few states, if an accident victim was found to be responsible for causing the accident even to a small degree, the victim was prohibited from seeking compensation. That is now generally considered to be unfair. Some jurisdictions take the exact opposite approach. They allow accident victims to seek compensation even if they were the ones mostly at fault for causing the accident.

Georgia takes an approach that falls in the middle of these two extremes. If someone is injured in an accident and is less than 50% at fault for causing it, they can obtain compensation from others who contributed to the accident. The amount received as compensation is then reduced by a percentage that corresponds to the victim’s share of fault.

So, in the example above, if the driver who was changing lanes too quickly (30% at fault) filed a lawsuit against the driver who turned without looking (60% at fault) and the property owner who allowed their hedges to block the road (10% at fault) and the court awarded the injured driver $100,000, that driver’s damage award would be reduced by 30% because they were 30% at fault. Instead of receiving $100,000, the driver would get 30% less, or $70,000.

Talk to an Experienced Accident Attorney Even if You Think You Might Be at Fault

Many times, people blame themselves for accidents that were primarily caused by someone else’s irresponsible behavior. That is often the case in motor vehicle collisions.

If you were hurt in an accident, it is a good idea to get advice from an experienced attorney as soon as possible. At Michael M. Day Law Firm, LLC, we offer free consultations and case evaluations so you can bring your questions to us with no fees and no obligation. If we work with you on the case, you won’t owe us any money until you receive compensation at the end of the case. So, to find out what may be possible in your case, call us today at 404-480-4284 or contact us online now.