If you have been involved in an automobile accident, the first thing you want to do is to make sure everyone is okay. Those who are not should seek medical help immediately. Once this is all over with, you may want to also find a personal injury lawyer to help you prove who was at fault in the auto accident. How do you prove fault if no one is willing to step up and admit that they are at fault? Your personal injury lawyer will be able to guide you through this process.
It is not easy to prove that someone is at fault in an accident. Insurance companies as well as courts can be tricky. The main reason you would want to find the individual at fault is to get compensation for the medical bills, rehabilitation, property damage, and time off of work due to the negligence of others.
What Liability Is
Fault is generally called liability when you are dealing with legal cases. This means that the person liable for the accident is the person who is responsible for paying. While they may not be fully responsible for the accident, they are going to pay for some of it. You need to call on an injury lawyer in St. Albert to ensure that you have professional legal assistance when needed.
What to Do After an Accident
It is important to start building your case immediately after an accident occurs. To do this, you need to:
Call the insurance company the same day the accident occurred if possible. This is a good idea because the event is fresh in your mind and you are going to remember more accurate details. You want to be honest with the insurance company when you call them. Go over all the details of the accident and don’t hold anything back, even if you may be responsible for some parts of it.
Be sure to snap a picture or have someone else do that before the wrecker service takes the cars away. This will give the insurance a better understanding of what happened.Don’t say too much. You don’t want to apologize and you don’t want to say that it is your fault. Be polite but leave these specific words out of your conversation so they cannot be used against you.
How Liability Is Determined
The insurance companies will be the ones who have the final determination in who holds liability. This is normally based on who was negligent, or the most negligent. Many accidents today will happen because someone is not being careful. The insurance company can determine who was responsible by:
Viewing the police report. The police will be very detailed about what happened and who was responsible and they will know who caused the accident.Interviewing witnesses. These witnesses are going to play an important role in who did what and all the many details that you may have missed because the accident was happening to you.Viewing the traffic laws. Was someone going too fast? Was there a red light when the accident happened? So many factors can play a role in who is guilty.
Viewing the scene of the accident. The scene is where it all took place and there will be many factors to consider here, including was the sign visible? Could the driver see when pulling out?