3 Things You Need to Prove that Negligence Led to Your Personal Injury

3 Things You Need to Prove that Negligence Led to Your Personal Injury (Houston)

When you are involved in an accident and you feel that someone else’s negligence caused your injury, you can file a personal injury claim. But it won’t be a ride in the park. You must convince the courts that the defendant’s negligence caused your injury. You can hire a personal injury lawyer to help you with the case, but still you’ll need to provide your attorney with sufficient proofs that the defendant’s negligence caused your injury. 

Below are the three things you need to prove that negligence led to your personal injury. 

1) Duty

As the complainant seeking justice, it will be your duty to prove that negligence of the accused caused your injury. Usually, negligence cases will depend on whether or not the defendant owed some duty to the complainant. If the courts find out that accused owed some duty, then you may end up winning the case and claiming your compensation. 

Duty will arise when the courts recognize that there was a relationship existing between the accused and the complainant. A judge will determine whether or not the accused owed some duty to the complainant. 

For example, if you were offloading some goods beside a road and unfortunately you hit a child who was walking on a sidewalk, you will be liable. In this case, the jury will determine the case citing that you did not perform your duty. 

2) Breach of Duty

After proving that the defendant owed some duty, you need to prove that the defendant breached his or her duty. Proving that the accused owed you some duty won’t be enough to convince the judges. You should also be able to prove with evidence that the defendant breached his or her duty. It will only make sense to the courts if the defendant failed to exercise reasonable care in performing the duty. So, it will be the duty of the jury to determine whether or not the accused exercised reasonable care or not. 

For example, if you were driving and unfortunately a motorcyclist runs into your car and cause an accident. The courts will require you to prove that the motorcyclist breached his or her duty. If for instance the motorcyclist negligently changed lanes and caused your accident, the court will find it worth holding the defendant liable. There are attorneys like Stewart J Guss can help you with such cases.

3) Cause in Fact

When you decide that you’re going to file a personal injury claim, you need to prove that the defendant’s actions were the actual cause of your injury. It should be detailed to convince the jury. Note that a shallow proof may not win the case for you. So, make it as detailed as possible. This proof is normally referred to as “but for”; but for the defendant’s actions, your injury wouldn’t have occurred. 

For example, if the motorist stayed on his lane, he or she wouldn’t have caused the accident. It is because he changed the lane that caused the accident. In this case, the court will be convinced that the accused caused your injury. 

Bottom Line

In most cases, proving the above could be difficult. In that case, you need to consult a personal injury lawyer to help you with the case. A lawyer has the experience and the expertise to handle such cases.