How Comparative Negligence Affects New York Car Accident Lawsuits
Often, a car accident results from more than one contributing factor. Perhaps multiple drivers failed to take proper safety precautions. Or perhaps the crash arose partly from carelessness by a driver and partly from a defect in a vehicle, for which the manufacturer was responsible.
What happens when a person who is seriously injured in a car accident was partly at fault? States take three different approaches:
- Contributory negligence: the victim cannot recover any damages if they were at fault to any extent
- Modified comparative negligence: the victim can recover damages reduced by their percentage of fault, but only if their fault is no greater than a certain percentage (usually around 50 percent)
- Pure comparative negligence: the victim can recover damages reduced by their percentage of fault, regardless of how great that percentage is
Under New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Section 1411, the state has adopted the doctrine of pure comparative negligence. This is the most favorable framework for accident victims, who can recover at least some of their damages from a defendant who was at fault to any degree.
How Comparative Negligence Works in a New York Car Accident Case
Imagine a situation in which a driver runs a red light and enters an intersection when they do not have the right of way. A driver on the cross street, who has a green light, does not notice that the first driver has run the red light because they are checking a text message on their cell phone. The cars collide at full speed, causing serious injuries to both drivers.
Each driver has violated separate provisions of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law. The driver who ran the red light has violated Section 1110, which requires a driver to obey official traffic control devices. The driver who was looking at their cell phone has violated Section 1225-d, which prohibits anyone from operating a motor vehicle while using a portable electronic device (such as a cell phone) while the vehicle is in motion.
Thus, a judge or jury likely would find that both drivers were negligent. They would need to calculate the damages that each driver sustained, determine each driver’s percentage of fault, multiply that percentage by that driver’s damages, and subtract the result from the damages to calculate the final award.
Suppose that the jury finds that the driver who ran the red light (Driver A) sustained $200,000 in damages, while the driver who was checking a text message (Driver B) sustained $150,000 in damages. Next, suppose that the jury finds that Driver A was 60 percent at fault for the crash, while Driver B was 40 percent at fault. The damages for Driver A would be reduced by $120,000 (60 percent of $200,000), leaving them with $80,000 in damages. The damages for Driver B would be reduced by $60,000 (40 percent of $150,000), leaving them with $90,000 in damages.
