Yes, you can still receive compensation if you were partially at fault for a Texas car accident. In many cases, fault for an automobile accident in Texas is not black and white. More than one party may share fault. In this situation, if you are partially to blame, the state’s comparative negligence law can determine how much you recover in financial compensation if you make a Laredo accident claim.
What Is Texas’s Comparative Negligence Law?
Texas is a comparative negligence state, not a contributory negligence state. This means an accident victim can still receive partial financial compensation (also called damages) even with a percentage of the blame assigned to him or her for the collision.
The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 33.001 states:
- Sec. 33.001. PROPORTIONATE RESPONSIBILITY. In an action to which this chapter applies, a claimant may not recover damages if his percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent.
Under this law, as long as an injured victim is found to be 50 percent or less at fault for a car accident in Texas, he or she can still be awarded financial damages for medical bills, property damage, and other losses.
How Will Partial Fault Affect My Texas Car Accident Claim?
Sharing fault for your automobile accident in Texas will not automatically bar you from receiving compensation. However, it will affect how much you can collect from another party. The law states that a claimant’s financial recovery will be reduced or diminished by an amount equivalent to his or her degree of fault.
For example, if you get hurt in a motor vehicle accident and your damages are worth a total of $300,000, but you are assigned 15 percent of the blame, your settlement would be reduced by a matching 15 percent ($45,000 in this example) to $255,000.
If you are found to be 51 percent or more at fault for the car crash, you will lose your right to recover any financial compensation from the other driver or a third party. This is the “modified” portion of Texas’s comparative negligence law. In a pure comparative negligence state, on the other hand, a victim can be found up to 99 percent at fault and still recover partial compensation.
How Is Fault Determined in a Texas Car Accident Case?
When a car crash occurs in Texas, insurance companies and the police will investigate to determine fault. An accident investigation may involve analyzing the crash scene and physical evidence, interviewing those involved (and eyewitnesses), reading crash reports, and looking at photographs and video footage. Experts may also be hired to reconstruct the car accident based on the evidence available, such as an analysis of the damage to both vehicles.
Dealing With Insurance Companies With Partial Fault
Having partial fault in a Texas car accident can make it more difficult to recover fair financial compensation for your losses, especially since the insurance company will use this against you to try to diminish or eliminate your payout. An insurance company will do what it can to push a greater degree of fault onto you to reduce its liability for your losses.
If an insurance company can place the majority of fault on you, it will avoid a payout. The best way to protect your rights during the insurance claims process is to hire a car accident attorney in Texas to represent you. A Laredo truck accident lawyer will collect evidence against the other driver for you to minimize your degree of fault – and maximize your financial outcome as much as possible.