Liability in a Bardstown Car Accident Case

The most unique thing about car accident claims in Bardstown is that Kentucky is a no fault state and as such, has something called PIP, personal injury protection, which is money that is set aside to take care of anyone who is injured regardless of fault. Even in the at-fault party, the people that are in that car have the opportunity to have $10,000 set aside to cover a couple of things—number one, their medical bills and, number two, their lost wages.

In addition to that, there has also recently been a change in Kentucky law where people can set aside the PIP amounts to cover insurance subrogation, that is the amount of money that the injured party will have to pay back to their insurance company for paying their medical bills and this is where it becomes very important to get to a Bardstown car accident lawyer as quickly as possible because handling all of that money the right way can really end up putting more money in the claimant’s pocket while also making sure all of their bills are paid.

Contributory Negligence

In Bardstown, liability law follows contributory negligence, and what that means is that the judge or the jury most likely is going to have to make a determination as to who is at fault.

For example, if a car accident occurs and one car was speeding, but the other ran a red light, both drivers have done something wrong, so the jury will have to examine all of the evidence to determine percentages of fault to assign to each driver. If the determination places 20% of the fault on the speeding driver, and 80% of the fault on the driver running a red light, when the jury proceeds to calculate damages, the amount of potential damages awarded to the speeding driver will be reduced by 20% because they are at fault for that amount of the accident.

Factors That May Determine Liability

Some of the other factors that a car accident lawyer wants to look for are whether or not the other driver was distracted. In this day and age, so many people seem to be driving while looking at their telephones or doing something other than concentrating on driving, which has become a leading cause of car accidents.

The first thing an experienced Bardstown car accident lawyer will try to do is obtain the other party’s cell phone records and texting records to see what was going on at the time of the accident. Other things that will go into consideration are the traffic laws and trying to determine who has violated a traffic law. Did somebody fail to yield the right of way, or if there was a red light or a stop sign that was run, were they speeding? Legal teams also want to look and see about intoxication levels, to determine if somebody was driving while they were impaired.

Impairment can also occur as the result of prescription medications. While many people are prescribed medication and instructed to take it as part of a daily routine, several of these drugs have side effects that impair cognitive ability and reaction speed, and should not be consumed before operating a motor vehicle.

Bardstown Car Accident Cases

One of the most important things all drivers in Bardstown should be aware of is how PIP, and Kentucky being a no-fault state, will play into taking care of medical bills through medical bill subrogation. Subrogation absolutely must be handled correctly, because as legal representatives, we want to make sure that there is money available to cover clients and their families when it comes to medical bills, lost wages, and damages for pain and suffering.

If you have been in a car accident and are unsure of how liability will be determined, and how it will affect your case, contact our Bardstown car accident lawyers today.