If you’re involved in an accident, you probably have lots of questions regarding liability. If your accident occurred in off-road terrain, you likely have even more questions.
Read on to learn how liability is determined in an off-road accident.
Finding Liability
When you’re driving off-road, you are expected to live up to a duty of care. This duty of care is the obligation to be mindful of what you’re doing so that you don’t cause harm to others.
Additionally, if someone else is driving your vehicle off-road, you are still responsible, as the vehicle owner, to make sure that the vehicle is operated in such a way that passengers, other off-roading vehicles, and spectators don’t become injured.
Whoever manufactures the vehicle’s parts and equipment has a duty of care to ensure the vehicle’s safety.
If a person or an entity fails to properly execute the duty of care, they’re considered negligent. When the negligence prompts an accident, you, the injured victim, have the viability to go after compensation for your damages.
Proving Liability
In order to be fairly compensated for your damages, you must prove the following four elements:
- You were owed a duty of care by the at-fault driver.
- The at-fault driver’s negligence breached that duty.
- The at-fault driver’s negligence prompted the accident.
- Your injuries were a result of the accident.
Sharing the Blame
Finding fault for accidents, especially those occurring off-road, can be very challenging. It’s possible for the injured victim to share part of the responsibility for the incidents around the wreck.
Regardless of how severe your injuries are, if the accident is partly your responsibility, the amount you’re compensated may be vastly reduced. However, this shouldn’t cause you to give up altogether. You may still be able to receive a good chunk of compensation to help pay for your damages.
We Can Help
If you’ve been injured as a result of an off-roading accident caused by another vehicle, you may be entitled to compensation. Our attorneys here at 'MAGGIO LAW are highly skilled in motor vehicle accidents and have helped hundreds of other people obtain justice. Let us see if we can help you, too. Don’t wait—contact us with your case right away.
Contact our attorneys at 'MAGGIO LAW at (601) 265-6869 to schedule a free, confidential consultation.