When you are involved in a car accident, it is likely that it was a very stressful and upsetting time. If damages and bodily harm were severe, questions would have been immediately asked in regard to who was to blame.

As the driver, you probably had a very strong instinct as to who caused the accident. If you believe that another driver was at fault, it will need to be proven in some way or another. Here are the steps that you should take in the attempt to show that a certain party was negligent in a car crash.

What does negligence mean in the case of a car accident?

Negligence is a legal term that helps show that a person was legally responsible for causing a dangerous scenario. A person can be proven to have acted negligently, but four key elements must be present in order to claim damages from them.

Duty
Any driver in a car has a duty. Their legal duty is to act with the safety of all pedestrians and people on the road as their top priority.

Breach of duty

In order for a negligence car accident claim to be successful, this duty must have been breached in some way.

Causation

When the driver breached this duty, this action must be linked to the occurrence of the car crash.

Damages

There must be some form of damage caused in order to file a legal claim.

If you have suffered as a result of a car accident and believe that another driver was at fault, it is important to take action in proving this.

Source: FindLaw, “Proving Fault: What is Negligence?,” accessed May 17, 2018