The Role of Contributory Fault in Your Washington Personal Injury Case

When you file a personal injury lawsuit against someone, you must prove that person was negligent in some way. Negligence is when a person (or legal entity) breaches a legal duty owed to another person. For example, if you drive a car, you have a legal duty to obey Washington traffic laws and operate your vehicle in a reasonably safe manner. If another driver ignored that duty–say, they ran a red light and hit your car–that would be proof of their negligence.

Negligence Is Not Always a One-Way Street

But what about a situation where both drivers in an accident may have been at-fault? To give a hypothetical example, Martha runs a red light and strikes a car driven by Phil in the intersection. At first glance, it appears Martha was negligent. But it turns out that Phil had been excessively speeding and was distracted by his phone when he entered the intersection.

If Phil filed a personal injury lawsuit against Martha, she could argue that Phil’s actions contributed to the accident. This is known as comparative negligence or “contributory fault” in Washington State. Should Phil’s case ultimately go to trial, the jury (or judge) would have to decide if Phil’s actions were partly to blame for his own injuries in the accident.

Contributory fault is determined as a percentage. For instance, the jury in Phil’s case decides that Martha was 80 percent at-fault and Phil was 20 percent at-fault for their car accident. These percentages would then be taken into account when calculating how much Martha owes Phil in damages. If Phil suffered a total loss of $150,000 in the accident, Martha would only have to pay 80 percent of that amount, or $120,000.

Pure Comparative Fault

Washington State is one of 11 states that currently follow a pure comparative fault model in personal injury cases. What “pure” means in this context is that a plaintiff can recover some compensation regardless of their own degree of fault. In other words, if our friend Phil was 99 percent at-fault for his accident, he could still demand Martha pay the remaining 1 percent of his damages.

Most states follow a modified comparative rule. Unlike pure comparative fault, modified comparative fault bars recovery of damages if the plaintiff’s fault exceeds a certain threshold. For instance, Oregon has a 51-percent modified comparative fault rule. That means if a plaintiff’s fault is 51 percent or higher, they cannot recover any compensation from the defendant. (Most comparative fault states set their threshold at either 50 or 51 percent.)

A small handful of states–all located on the east coast–follow an even stricter rule called pure contributory negligence. This rule bars a personal injury plaintiff from recovering damages if they are found at-fault to any degree, even just 1 percent.

Contact a Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have been injured in a motor vehicle caused by someone else’s negligence, it is best to speak with a qualified Washington State personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your options for seeking compensation. Contact Gustad Law Group, PLLC, today to schedule a consultation. We serve clients in Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma.

Source:

app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=4.22.005