If you have been involved in a New Jersey motor vehicle accident, you may be wondering how liability is determined in such a claim. Will the at-fault driver try to argue that you were negligent? What if there were multiple cars involved? What if other entities, such as the municipality responsible for road maintenance, is responsible for the accident? With the assistance of an experienced New Jersey motor vehicle accident lawyer, liability is determined in your case so that the responsible parties may be held accountable for your injuries and losses.
Evidence is key to establishing liability
After an accident, pieces of evidence begin coming together that provide insight as to how the crash occurred. Personal injury attorneys put these pieces together to determine liability and build strong cases for their clients.
The accident report provides important information about the accident, and it may even assign fault to one of the drivers involved in the crash. However, personal injury attorneys typically look at much more evidence beyond what is offered in the accident report. The accident report may include street names and a brief synopsis of how the accident occurred, but it often leaves out a great deal of detail.
Eyewitness accounts are important pieces of evidence in a motor vehicle accident claim. An eyewitness may notice who had the green light at an intersection, for example. Eyewitnesses may also notice if a driver appears sleepy or distracted right before an accident, or if the driver was driving recklessly. Eyewitnesses may be contacted by personal injury attorneys to obtain their perception of the accident.
Photographs and video surveillance footage are extremely valuable in motor vehicle accident cases. Dash cams and other types of cameras are becoming more and more popular, and many of these cameras have helped drivers absolve themselves of liability in an accident. For example, a dash cam may reveal which driver actually crossed into another lane.
In some accidents, entities aside from drivers are at least partially responsible for motor vehicle crashes. For example, perhaps a municipality had gotten numerous complaints about a pothole in a highway, but failed to repair it. When a driver struck the pothole, the driver lost control and caused an accident. Reports of complaints, road maintenance records, and other types of documents may reveal that the municipality is actually responsible for the crash.
Consulting accident reconstruction experts and engineers may also help establish liability. These experts study skid marks, vehicle damage, and other types of physical evidence to gain insight into what caused an accident.
Were you injured in an accident in New Jersey? Call Lomurro Law to discuss your claim
The personal injury attorneys at Lomurro Law have a wide network of experts and professionals to consult throughout your motor vehicle accident claim. With the assistance of these experts, you have only the strongest evidence presented in your cases. To schedule a free consultation, call 732-482-9285 or contact us online.