How Do I Legally Prove Who Was at Fault for an Accident in Pennsylvania?

December 3, 2024

If you have been in a car accident, you may be required to prove fault in order to receive compensation. Since no one will take your word for it, and since the other driver may deny being at fault, you will have to do a bit of work to adequately prove fault for compensation purposes. Fortunately, a Pennsylvania car accident attorney can accomplish this task for you in a way that is likely to net you more compensation than your efforts alone.

If you have been in an auto accident in Pennsylvania, don’t leave compensation on the table. Let a professional handle your claim. Call the accident lawyers at Wapner Newman for a free consultation at (215) 569-0900.

Auto Accident Liability

In most cases, auto accident liability arises out of negligence. So accident victims seeking compensation must prove that the party that harmed them was negligent. Proving negligence requires the victim to demonstrate four elements: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages.

Duty

Duty means an obligation to act or refrain from acting in a certain way for the safety of others. In the context of traffic, all drivers have a duty to operate their vehicles in a reasonably safe manner so as not to harm others.

Breach of Duty

Breaching the duty of care in traffic means operating the vehicle in an unsafe manner, such as driving too fast for current conditions or failing to signal a lane change. To be successful in a compensation claim, the victim must identify one or more specific breaches of duty.

Causation

Identifying a breach of duty is not enough. The victim must then show that the breach of duty was the proximate cause of the car accident. In other words, the accident would not have taken place but for the defendant’s breach of duty.

Damages

Finally, if you are seeking compensation, you must prove that you are eligible for damages. There can be no claim for compensation without one or more legally compensable harms.

Proving each of these four elements requires hard evidence. It is never enough to simply say someone is at fault. Evidence must clearly demonstrate liability, or you will get less than you deserve or nothing at all.

Wapner Newman’s accident lawyers leave no stone unturned when seeking to hold negligent and unlawful parties accountable. We make them pay what they owe.

Evidence

Various forms of evidence are typically available in car accident cases. The key is gathering strong evidence as soon as possible after an accident to preserve it and factor it into your case. Evidence taken directly from the accident scene can be among the most powerful. This includes:

  • Photos
  • Video footage
  • Witness statements
  • Police or accident reports.

Victims who are able are encouraged to gather the above-listed evidence. However, they should only do so in a safe manner.

Outside of the accident scene, other types of evidence must also typically be collected, such as camera footage and accident reconstruction data.

Camera Footage

Every day, more cameras seem to be popping up throughout the country. The footage they capture serves as valuable evidence in all manner of legal proceedings, including car accident compensation cases. When you hire an attorney, footage will be one of the main types of evidence they will search for.

Unfortunately, footage is frequently deleted to make room for more footage. For accident victims who delay seeking compensation, the loss of valuable footage is often a reality, as is less compensation or none at all.

Accident Reconstruction Data

Experienced car accident attorneys work with top accident experts to reconstruct the accidents their clients have experienced. Important details come to light as experts recreate the conditions of an accident and execute the crash. In many cases, indisputable evidence is recovered from these reconstructions.

Burden of Proof

The burden of proof refers to how believable a complaint must be. In criminal cases, the burden of proof is “beyond a reasonable doubt,” which is the highest standard of proof in the law. However, in personal injury cases, such as car accident cases, the standard of proof is “a preponderance of the evidence.”

A preponderance of the evidence means the claim is more likely than not to have happened. Put another way, there can be as little as a 51% chance that the claim is true for a victim to be successful.

Medical Proof

Proving fault requires proving that a compensable harm occurred. If you seek damages, you need to prove that you suffered the injuries you claim. A medical record of your injuries from an accident is the best kind of evidence. However, you must obtain this record as soon as possible after being injured. Waiting to seek treatment can harm your case.

Of course, if you never seek professional medical treatment, you can expect the defendant and their insurance company to dispute your injuries. They’ll argue that your injuries stem from some other incident or that you made them worse by not going to the doctor.

Get Help From a Car Accident Lawyer Today

Proving fault in a car accident is not fun for accident victims, but it is required. Car accident lawyers are there to take on this burden and fight for more money than victims would receive without a lawyer. If you have been in an auto accident, remember that there is a two-year statute of limitations to take legal action. You have no time to waste.

To learn how much you may be entitled to receive for your losses, don’t ask an insurance company. Contact Wapner Newman for a free consultation. Learn the true value of your case and how we can help. Call (215) 569-0900.