Car Accident - Who Is At Fault?

When you are the victim of a car accident, usually one of the first steps in addressing your needs is to determine possible fault. Before an attorney can send a demand letter or file a lawsuit, the attorney must know who to send the letter to or who to file suit against. Often, this question is quickly and easily answered. If the collision involved only two drivers and you were one of the drivers, your attorney will likely focus on the other driver as the one at fault.

But what if yours is the eighth car in a multiple car pile-up? Was it your fault or the fault of one of the other seven drivers or the fault of someone else altogether? Here's a secret: In the beginning you don't have to know who is at fault. You only have to know who might have been at fault. To start your claim, your attorney must notify anyone who might have been at fault in the accident. You and your attorney must think creatively about who might actually be responsible for your damages.

Here are some possibilities:

• Your own insurance company will be primarily responsible in Kentucky because of insurance regulation requirements.

• If you get into an accident on someone's private property, the property owner may be partly responsible for the accident because of a failure to put up traffic signs or a failure to clean debris, among other reasons.

• The government of the city or county in which you crashed may be at fault for having failed to properly maintain the public roadway. For example, if there was snow on the road after a storm, which caused you to lose control of your vehicle, we could assign some fault to the government.

• Another common example that results in government responsibility are falling trees or rocks in spaces that are maintained by the government.

• If a minor was driving, or if a minor contributed to the accident, that minor's parent could be responsible.

• If the accident is caused by a vehicle malfunction, the manufacturer of the vehicle is at fault.

• If the driver of the vehicle into which you collided was on the roadway as part of his job, in a company vehicle, and engaging in company business, the driver's employer may be responsible for your damages.

• If you were a passenger, then the person who was driving you may be at fault and you could sue them. Or, if you were a driver, and one of your passengers did something that caused you to crash, you could sue the passenger.

• In the case of a multiple car pile-up, you could sue every other driver or passenger involved in the pile-up, because any one of them might have contributed to your losses or injuries.

• If the owners of the vehicles are different from the drivers of the vehicle, the owners might be responsible.

The competent Lexington Kentucky car accident attorneys can help you sort it out. The Kentucky Personal Injury Attorneys at Goeing Goeing and McQuinn PLLC are here for you.