Proving Who’s At Fault In a Sideswipe Crash Isn’t Always Straightforward
Proving who’s at fault for a car accident in Colorado Springs is the cornerstone of all lawsuits seeking compensation for injuries sustained in a crash. This is the case no matter what kind of collision happened, including those involving a car hit from the side.
Side-impact crashes (also called “T-bone” or sideswipe accidents) occur when the front of one vehicle slams into the side of another or when two cars traveling side by side veer into the other. And these types of accidents happen a lot. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 878,000 side-impact crashes in 2019, resulting in 138,000 injuries and 913 fatalities.
These crashes are particularly likely to cause injuries to drivers or passengers because all that sits between them and the other vehicle is a door. Even with side airbags, the sheer impact of a sideswipe accident often causes catastrophic trauma.
The nature of these collisions is such that they most frequently happen at intersections or when changing lanes. But determining who’s at fault isn’t always as simple as identifying which driver ran through a red light or did not yield to the other vehicle. Depending on the circumstances of the crash, responsibility for injuries can fall on several different parties:
The Other Driver
The most common answer to the “who’s at fault” question in these types of accidents is a driver who fails to obey a traffic signal or posted stop sign, barrels through the intersection, and collides with the side of a car that had the right of way. Alternatively, the vehicle that gets hit could have entered the intersection when it shouldn’t have or veered into another lane while driving. If the injured party, witnesses to the accident, or accident reconstruction experts can identify who had the right-of-way in the collision, fault can be easier to assign.
Both Drivers
Sometimes, one party is clearly and completely responsible for the sideswipe. But in many such crashes, who’s at fault isn’t an either/or proposition. Sometimes, a driver seeking to recover damages for their injuries and losses may be partially responsible for the sideswipe accident. For example, at a four-way stop, perhaps one driver fails to stop and crashes into a driver who was texting and also did not stop. In such circumstances, both drivers share responsibility for causing the wreck.
The concept of comparative negligence in Colorado recognizes that more than one person or party may be responsible for an accident or injury. In such cases, which happen more often than you might think, Colorado law permits a partially at-fault injury victim to seek and obtain damages – so long as they were less at fault than the other parties involved.
Related: Does a Traffic Ticket Matter in Car Accident Injury Lawsuits in Colorado?
Car Manufacturers
Even if a driver does everything right – obeying the speed limit and preparing to stop as required, their vehicle may let them down. Suppose the car did not function as designed, even though the owner properly maintained the vehicle. In that case, the car or parts manufacturer may ultimately bear some or all of the responsibility for an accident and the injuries that result.
Road Engineers
Sometimes, a side-impact car accident and the resulting injuries aren’t the fault of other drivers who share the road with us at all. Sometimes, the road itself is the cause of a crash.
Colorado Springs streets are no stranger to road construction, and improperly designed or poorly maintained streets can be just as dangerous as a careless driver, and the consequences can be catastrophic. When the parties responsible for designing, building and maintaining a roadway are negligent in doing so, drivers and passengers who suffer injuries in a crash that occurs due to this carelessness may be able to gain compensation from those parties.
Depending on the road, it may be a road construction company, the City of Colorado Springs, El Paso County, the state of Colorado, or the federal government that bears primary responsibility for a road’s condition. While no governmental entity, no matter how competent and vigilant, can make every inch of asphalt perfectly safe, they are responsible for keeping roads from being or becoming unreasonably dangerous in a way that it could have and should have foreseen. And if outside road construction companies are in charge of road maintenance, they must ensure that the work area conditions remain safe for drivers.
Proving Who’s At Fault Isn’t Always Easy
Yes, proving fault and assigning blame for side-impact accidents isn’t always easy. Because it isn’t always obvious who caused the crash, Colorado law may shield them from liability, or an El Paso County judge may hold that the evidence that would support a finding of fault is not admissible in court. Because of this, hiring a Colorado Springs car accident lawyer who knows how to prove who’s at fault in the side-impact collision that caused you injury is the best decision you can make.
Speak to an experienced Colorado Springs car accident attorney today.
