![Who Is at Fault in a Car Accident When Backing Up in California? 1 Who is at fault in a car accident when backing up?](https://www.kreegerlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/car-accident-when-backing-up.jpg)
Where Do Back-Up Accidents Happen?
Accidents that occur when one of the vehicles involved is reversing are most likely to occur in residential neighborhoods and parking lots. However, it is possible for reversing accidents to happen elsewhere. For example, if a driver turns down a street only to see that it is blocked, they may attempt to reverse to go back the way they came. However, if they do so too suddenly, they may hit another vehicle behind them.
Reversing accidents in parking lots generally occur at low speeds, and the resulting damage may be nothing more than cosmetic blemishes on the vehicles involved. However, if one driver is speeding down alongside a row of parked cars, they may not be able to stop in time to avoid hitting another driver backing up out of their parking space. In this situation, it’s likely for both drivers to bear some measure of fault for the incident, but the speeding driver would likely bear a greater share of fault for the resulting damages.
Back-up accidents in residential neighborhoods can be very damaging in several ways. First, drivers backing up out of their driveways must use caution to not only avoid backing up into the path of a nearby passing vehicle in the street but also to avoid hitting pedestrians on the sidewalk behind them, especially children who may be hard to see in their vehicle’s rearview mirrors.
Ultimately, determining liability for a reversing accident can be very difficult, and it’s possible for all parties involved to bear some level of liability for the event. In this situation, California’s pure comparative negligence law is likely to come into play and affect the outcome of subsequent insurance claims and legal proceedings for personal injury.
How Does Comparative Negligence Work in California Injury Cases?
Every state upholds different laws pertaining to negligence and personal injuries. Most states enforce the modified comparative negligence law, allowing plaintiffs to recover damages even when they are partially at fault for causing those damages. Under modified comparative negligence, as long as the plaintiff’s fault is less than 50%, they still receive compensation less a percentage equal to their fault percentage. For example, if a plaintiff is found 30% at fault, they lose 30% of their case award. If they are found 51% or more at fault in a modified comparative negligence state, they cannot recover compensation for their damages.
California’s pure comparative negligence law removes this threshold that bars plaintiff recovery above 50% fault. This means it is theoretically possible for a plaintiff to be found 99% at fault, and they would still have the right to claim compensation for 1% of their claimed damages. However, the higher the plaintiff’s fault percentage is, the more vulnerable they are to counter suits from defendants.
When it comes to accidents involving backing up, liability may not entirely fall on one driver or the other. Depending on how the situation occurred, it is very likely for both drivers to bear partial liability for the incident. How much fault each driver incurs depends on the unique details of the incident in question.