The
personal injury plaintiff must prove the case by a preponderance of the
evidence. This means that the plaintiff
must prove that it is more likely than not (1) that the defendant breached some
duty of the road, such as ignoring a stop sign or failing to pay full time and
attention; (2) that the defendant’s breach of such duty caused the plaintiff’s
damages; and (3) that the plaintiff’s injuries are related exclusively to the
accident or were exacerbated by the accident.
A major concern
for accidents that happen in Virginia is that Virginia is a “contributory
negligence” state, which means that the plaintiff must be entirely free of
fault for the accident. If the Plaintiff
contributed to the accident in any way, then the Plaintiff is barred from
recovery. This does not mean that the
Plaintiff needs to be free of any violation of traffic laws, only that the
Plaintiff be free of negligence that causes the accident. By way of example, consider a Plaintiff that
is texting at a red light when she is rear ended by a Defendant. Texting in Virginia while driving (even if
stopped at a light) is against the law. However, the Plaintiff in this case may
still recover because the Plaintiff’s texting did not cause the Defendant to
rear-end the Plaintiff’s vehicle.
Rather, the cause of the rear-ender was the Defendant’s failure to keep
a proper lookout and failure to brake in a timely manner. However, one should note that even a subtle
change in the facts could bar Plaintiff’s recovery. If the Plaintiff failed to accelerate when
the light turned green because she was texting and did not notice the light
change, then the Plaintiff may be prevented from recovery.
The
most important issue in the vast majority of personal injury cases are the
issues of damages and causation. Most of
the time, the Defendant will concede negligence. In a great number of cases, the Defendant
will concede that the Plaintiff was not contributorily negligent. However, the Defendant will vehemently
suggest that the Plaintiff’s injuries are inflated, nonexistent or not a result
of the accident. Since the injuries in
an automobile accident case results in medical expenses, it is imperative that
anyone considering a personal injury case ensure that the medical documentation
regarding treatment correctly and accurately reflect that nature and cause of
injury. Medical documentation that
suggests, even off-handedly, that a concussion, for example, was caused by a
fall rather than the automobile accident at issue can present a large hurdle to
overcome at trial. Additionally, in the
event that the injured party loses time at work, an employer that fails to
document that the reason for missing work resulted from injuries sustained in the
accident can reduce the likelihood of recovering lost wages.
In
order to be successful at trial, it is imperative that the potential personal
injury plaintiff prepare proof that the other driver’s negligence caused the
accident, and secure documentation of damages (medical, employment, etc.) resulting
from the accident. This evidence,
combined with a skilled trial lawyer should result in a personal injury verdict
that is full and fair compensation for any victim of an
automobile accident.
If you are
injured in an accident, consider using an experienced law firm, such as Gross
& Romanick, P.C. Call us at
703-273-1400 or send us an e-mail to law@gross.com. Visit our website at www.gross.com and download our Personal Injury
App to your smartphone or iPad.
