The party at fault is the person that the legal system holds liable for a given accident. The liable party gets hit with the need to compensate any injured victim. That fact explains the reason for focusing on the identification of the party at fault.
Possible ways to resolve a dispute between 2 parties
The 2 parties could seek to negotiate a settlement that would involve reaching an agreement on who should be held responsible. When no agreement has been reached, the injured party has the right to file a personal injury lawsuit with the assistance of a personal injury lawyer in Bedford.
The legal system asks this question, if a plaintiff has filed a lawsuit: Was either party negligent?
Did either party provide a level of care that fell below what a reasonable person would expect?
Did either party’s negligence causes the plaintiff to be harmed in some fashion? It is possible that a plaintiff’s own actions might be shown capable of harming the same plaintiff.
Plaintiffs with a winning personal injury case offer evidence of 4 required elements.
The fact that the defendant had a duty of care towards the plaintiff: The absence of any harmful intentions on the defendant’s part might qualify as evidence that a duty of care did, indeed, exist. However, the defendant’s behavior should mimic the expected behavior of a reasonable individual.
The fact that the defendant breached the identified duty of care: Sometimes a breach takes the form of an unnecessary and harmful action, one that would not be taken by a reasonable person. Sometimes a breach represents a failure to perform the sort of action that someone with reasoning powers would be apt to carry out.
The negligence exhibited by the defendant managed to harm the plaintiff. This is one of the most important elements; one that plaintiffs need to show existed, unless their hopes for winning their own personal injury case have all but evaporated. In other words, evidence of an injury does not satisfy this 3rd element. That evidence would be worth more, if one or more witnesses could testify to the defendant’s actions, and link those to the events that have caused the obvious injury.
The plaintiff suffered actual damages: That is the final element that must be shown to the court. The phrase actual damages usually refer to an injury that could create a real and significant expense for the person that sustained it. The purchase of a band-aid would not represent a significant expense.
On the other hand, the damages could erase a specific opportunity that the victim had enjoyed, prior to the accident. That would be the case, if the victim had to forego going to a business conference, while recovering from the accident’s injurious effects.
