Comparative Negligence in Multi-Vehicle Accidents | San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyers

The home of the Alamo and the famous River Walk is also home to thousands of car crashes every year. San Antonio TX had more than 40,000 wrecks in 2023 alone, taking 164 lives and seriously injuring 612 people. Multiple vehicles and/or multiple parties are sometimes involved in such accidents, leaving numerous victims in pain and out of work.

The San Antonio TX personal injury lawyers at Carabin Shaw thoroughly investigate these car wrecks to identify all at-fault parties, ensuring victims maximize damages for their injuries and other losses. Our law firm offers our services on a contingency-fee basis, so you receive our expertise with no upfront cost. You don’t pay unless we win. Call our offices day or night at 1-800-862-1260 for a free case review in English or Spanish.

Multi-car crashes involving three or more vehicles increase the risk of severe injuries and property damage. Cars may be hit from multiple directions with substantial force, and rescue personnel may face challenges extracting and treating victims quickly. Some victims may not receive prompt medical attention, exacerbating their injuries with long-term implications in some cases.

Common causes of multi-vehicle accidents include:

• Driving while distracted by eating, using a cell phone, or other causes
• Following vehicles too closely to ensure safe reactions
• Exceeding speed limits affects a driver’s ability to stop safely
• Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Adverse weather, causing slick roads or impaired visibility

The investigation of these accidents is also more complex. Chain reactions are challenging to retrace and identify all the parties responsible for the crash. An experienced attorney understands how to navigate the process, working with drivers, eyewitnesses, authorities, accident experts, and insurance companies to pinpoint liability for accident victims.

Texas operates under the proportionate responsibility, also known as the comparative fault or negligence rule. Comparative negligence is a legal principle that holds all at-fault parties liable for damages based on their percentage of fault in the accident. Accident victims who contributed to the accident can also seek damages if their portion of fault was less than 50%.

The total fault must be 100%, with each responsible party bearing a portion of that amount. For example, if a judge or jury determines one driver’s portion of fault was 60% and another driver’s was 40%, those parties would be liable for those portions of the accident victim’s damages. If the victim was 30% at fault for the accident, they could still collect 70% of the total damages from the other at-fault parties.

A judge or jury determines proportionate responsibility by examining evidence, including accident reports, eyewitness testimonies, photos or videos of the scene, and expert testimony from accident reconstruction experts. The complexity of this principle requires a San Antonio comparative negligence lawyer to ensure accident victims receive all the damages they are entitled to under the law.

Determining fault under the comparative negligence principle is just the first step. You must also prove that the responsible party acted negligently. Proving negligence requires the following elements:

• The responsible motorist owed the accident victim a duty of care
• The at-fault motorist breached that duty of care
• The breach led directly to the victim’s injuries
• The victim would not have been injured if the breach had not occurred

How does your lawyer prove negligence in your case? Using the same evidence that identified the responsible parties and reconstructed the crash details. The quicker you contact personal injury attorneys in Central Texas, the sooner they can gather evidence and build your case.

Multi-car pile-ups are frightening events that can leave victims severely injured and traumatized for months or even years afterward. At Carabin Shaw, our Texas lawyers have decades of experience supporting accident victims, and our client reviews attest to our ability to maximize damages for them. Call us toll-free today at 1-800-862-1260.

For more information:

• Crashes and Injuries Cities and Towns
• Chapter 33. Proportionate Responsibility
• Comparative negligence
• Negligence