New Jersey Personal Injury Law & Understanding Comparative Negligence
Posted on | April 23, 2010 | No Comments
New Jersey personal injury law allows you to seek money for damages you sustained in an accident even if you are partly at fault for the accident. This is what is known as the concept of comparative negligence.
New Jersey is a comparative negligence state and not a contributory negligence state. The concept of contributory negligence states that any contributory negligence bars all recovery. This means that if you were at all responsible for the accident then you would not be entitled to money damages.
Contributory negligence was founded on a court case years ago in England where a many driving his carriage at nighttime was injured because a man living near the road left a log out. The man did not see the log in the road, which was supposed to have been removed by the man living nearby, and crashed and suffered injury and damage to his carriage and horses.
The court awarded the carriage driver money damages, but the appeals court overruled the case. The appeals court said that the carriage driver was partly at fault because he did not have his lamp on.
The carriage driver’s lamp was not operating properly so the man did not have it lighted. The court said that if the light was on the man would have been able to see the log and avoid it and avoid the accident. His contribution to the accident, his negligence in not having repaired his lamp, prevented him from collecting money damages.
Contributory negligence has long been determined to be a harsh concept. Under this theory, any amount of fault, even on percent could bar all recovery. Therefore, the law of comparative negligence evolved which allows a person to recover damages according to the percent of his or her negligence.
So you can still sue successfully even if you are partly at fault for the accident. A jury will determine levels of fault for both parties and adjust the award accordingly.
Related posts:
- Understanding Negligence and New Jersey Personal Injury
- New Jersey Personal Injury Information
- Contacting A New Jersey Injury Lawyer Quickly After An Auto Accident Makes A Difference
- New Jersey Car Accident Lawyer: What To Do After An Accident
- 5 Questions To Ask Your New Jersey Injury Lawyer
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