Who Is at Fault for My Sacramento Personal Injury?

No one anticipates suffering a personal injury in an accident, but it happens to many of us at some point or another. When an injury is the direct result of someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to seek compensation for your damages and losses according to California tort law.

Compensation provides you with valuable financial support for everything from medical bills to lost wages and income. Even your pain and suffering can be compensated. Of course, receiving compensation requires knowing who was at fault for the injury. The at-fault party might seem obvious in many cases, but it’s often more nuanced than that, with multiple parties partially to blame.

What Does Negligence Mean?

Before you can determine exactly who is at fault for your Sacramento personal injury, you must first understand what negligence means. Not every accident involves negligence, although the overwhelming majority do. Negligence means that the party in question has either directly or indirectly taken an action that led to harm, loss, or damage of some kind.

Negligence can be direct, such as when a drunk driver hits you, or indirect, such as when a doctor fails to diagnose a serious medical condition. Both of these situations qualify as negligent.

Is Negligence Always Straightforward?

Generally speaking, determining fault is often complicated. Negligence can be extremely complicated in many situations. For example, if someone spins out on ice in a parking lot, hits a vehicle, and then pushes the second vehicle into a third, multiple parties might be at fault. The business that owns the parking lot could be at fault for failing to properly clear the lot, and the driver might be blamed for failing to account for the icy conditions.

Those who are negligent have done something specific that the average person should realize could cause harm.

Determining Who Is at Fault

To make matters even more complicated, when determining who is at fault for your personal injury, you also need to consider that anyone—including individuals, organizations, facilities, businesses, and even the City of Sacramento—may be at fault, depending on where and how the accident occurred.

Consult a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have been hurt in an accident and aren’t sure who was at fault, it’s best to contact a personal injury attorney at Crowell Law Offices. Even if you think you might have been partially at fault, we might be able to help you seek a financial settlement to cover your losses and pay for your recovery.

Our attorneys have the experience necessary to determine who was at fault and bring your claim to a successful conclusion. Call us at 916-303-2800 or fill out the form at the bottom of the page for a free consultation.