Is Contributory Negligence Unfair?

When deciding payouts to accident victims the court system must know that the at fault driver was negligent. What is negligence? In referring to auto accident cases negligence is also known as carelessness. Carelessness is in this case can mean serious injury or death for the accident victim. What are some real world examples? Was the at fault driver under the influence of drugs or alcohol? Were they driving over the speed limit?

Some cases may be decided without going to trial. All and all most cases are settled without the need for trial (as known as to 'follow suit'). In this case negotiations are made between the injured party and in the insurance company to arrange a 'fair' compensation amount. This is where it is extremely important to have a qualified auto accident / serious injury attorney on your side. We understand the tactics used by insurance companies to not only minimize payouts but in some cases try and not pay out anything at all. This leads us to the topic at hand.

Contributory Negligence

Contributory Negligence is when the injured party may have had some small part in the fault of the accident. What this means is if you were hit by a drunk driver however you were going five miles over the speed limit you may be found be partially negligence and thereby you have contributed to the negligence. In Maryland this may very well put your entire case at risk. In some areas the injured party may have to prove the negligence of the 'at fault' driver. Other times the roles can be reversed and the 'at fault' driver may have to disprove that they did not act neligently.

The point here is that contributory negligence can be a scary thing. Your entire case can be put a risk. Unfair? Perhaps, but until the law is changed that is the way it'll be in Maryland.

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