fault

Since Missouri uses a pure comparative negligence rule, if you are in an accident and are found to be partially responsible, the amount of compensation you can recover from the other driver will be reduced by a percentage in proportion to your fault in the accident.

If you are in an auto accident in Missouri, it is important to understand that there are times when more than one person can be found partially responsible and liable for an automobile accident. If you are found to be partially at fault, this means that while you were not solely to blame for the accident happening, you do bear some of the responsibility.

Missouri Uses a Pure Comparative Negligence Rule

An accident happens due to “negligence.” Negligence is a legal term that implies that someone did something directly to cause an accident. It might also mean that someone failed to do something, and that led to the accident.

One such instance would be if someone failed to act as a reasonable person would, and it was that failure to act led directly to the accident. There are times when both drivers might contribute to the accident by both being partially negligent, which would make them both liable for the damages and injuries.

For instance, if you were driving through an intersection and someone pulled out in front of you, then the other driver – who didn’t yield and was subsequently hit – was negligent for the accident because they didn’t anticipate you not having enough time to stop. However, if you were going 20 miles over the speed limit while going through the intersection, then even if the other driver had stopped, they would likely not have had enough time to pull out or they simply miscalculated how much time they had due to your speed. In that scenario, both drivers would be partially negligent.

Since Missouri uses a pure comparative negligence rule, if you are in an accident and are found to be partially responsible, the amount of compensation you can recover from the other driver will be reduced by a percentage in proportion to your fault in the accident.

How Is Comparative Negligence Calculated?

In situations where both parties bear partial responsibility, the accident is evaluated according to the events, and each driver is ascribed a certain percentage of fault. That percentage is then used to calculate how much each driver contributed. Once the total of both economic and non economic damages are calculated, the parties are each responsible for paying for their “portion” of negligence that they contributed.

Although it’s not an exact calculation, when there is more than one party involved in an accident, it is the only way to make sure that one person isn’t left holding the financial burden if they are not solely to blame.

If I had to swerve to avoid an object or another automobile and ended up hitting someone else, am I still at fault for the accident?

The reason that car accidents are called “accidents” is because they result from things that are sometimes out of the control of drivers. When you are in an accident, drivers are deemed partially or wholly at fault. When you are found at-fault, it means that you did something that was to blame for the accident happening.

It could also be that you failed to do something, and that failure to act directly led to the accident. However, what if you take an action because you have to in order to avoid an accident or damage to your car, and it ends up causing another accident? For example, if you have to swerve to avoid an object or another automobile and you end up hitting someone else, are you still at fault for the accident?

Although in most accidents one driver is found negligent and liable, there are times when there can be contributory fault placed on more than one driver.

What Is Contributory Fault?

“Contributory fault” means that both drivers were partially negligent, and are both at fault for an accident. In cases where there is contributory negligence, each driver is assigned a percentage of “fault,” and that percentage is used to calculate how much they are responsible for paying for any resulting damages and injuries from the car accident.

Is Swerving Considered a Cause for Comparative Negligence?

If you swerve out of the way to avoid an object or another car, but that car wasn’t involved in the accident (in other words, it only caused you to hit someone but wasn’t hit itself), then you will likely be considered at fault if you hit someone else’s car. Depending on the circumstances, if the other car had no part in the negligence of the accident, the responsibility may rest solely on you.

Can You Recover Your Costs?

There are times when you can recover the costs that you incur from an accident if there were road conditions that caused your accident to happen. For instance, if you had to swerve because there was a giant pothole in the road, then you might be able to hold someone else liable for your accident.

If agencies are responsible for maintaining the safety of the streets, roads, and highways and they fail to do so, then they might be liable if you have to swerve to avoid a defect in the road, which directly led to your accident. However, that would likely not change the original accident outcome whereby you are considered at-fault for the accident.