Will I Receive Money If A Baltimore Car Accident Was My Fault?
Will I Receive Money If A Baltimore Car Accident Was My Fault?
Most personal injury lawyers have a standard answer:
If you are at fault, Maryland law prohibits recovery. It’s called contributory negligence.
Over the course of 30 years, I’ve found that fully addressing a legal question such as this may be best handled in a one-on-one strategy and case analysis conference. This question is one that can be nuanced. How is fault determined in a Baltimore car accident? Obviously, the answer to one question hinges on the analysis in the fault determination. You can use the resources here to engage in a fault analysis or consult with a seasoned Baltimore personal injury trial lawyer.
Chapter 21 of Maryland’s Transportation Article lays rules designed to keep roadways safe for everyone. These regulations cover a wide range of driving behaviors, from making turns and changing lanes to obeying traffic signals, each with the intent to reduce accidents and promote responsible driving. They also set the ground rules for a fault analysis by an experienced Baltimore personal injury attorney. The Transportation Article mandates strict adherence to traffic control devices, such as stop signs, traffic lights, and yield signs. These signals regulate the flow of traffic and, when obeyed, prevent collisions at intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other high-risk areas. So, Will I Receive Money If A Baltimore Car Accident Was My Fault? Nope. You will not. For these traffic rules also play another vital role in the Baltimore car accident lawyer’s analysis. Violations of these traffic statutes do more than just result in citations; they are often considered a form of legal negligence in personal injury cases. The violation of a traffic statute is generally treated as evidence of negligence, which is known as negligence per se.
As Attorney Eric T. Kirk will tell you.
Transcript
Unfortunately, no. Maryland is one of five remaining jurisdictions that still has the ancient doctrine of contributory negligence. Now, most states have gone to a system of comparative fault where the relative degrees of responsibility amongst the participants are balanced against each other, and someone that’s less at fault can generally recover from someone that’s more fault. Not so in Maryland. In Maryland, if you’re 1% responsible for causing an accident -even as opposed to 99% on the other side-the doctrine of contributory negligence precludes any recovery whatsoever.
- Baltimore Personal Injury Trial Lawyer Eric T. Kirk
- Legal Analysis & Case Studies
- Baltimore Neighborhoods I Serve
A Baltimore car accident and personal injury litigator who has taken hundreds of cases to trial in Maryland, New York and Florida, recovering millions over a 30-year mission to obtain denied compensation for his clients.
