If you experienced a car crash in Kentucky, you might wonder if you can still file a claim if you were partially at fault. The state has specific laws outlining your rights and options concerning personal injury claims.
According to Kentucky tort statute section 411.182, you can still recover damages, even if you contributed to the accident.
Kentucky’s “pure comparative negligence” rule
Personal injury cases in Kentucky follow “pure comparative negligence.” This rule means that even if you were partially responsible for the accident, you may still be eligible to recover damages. However, the court will reduce the amount of money you can recover by the percentage of fault assigned to you.
Proving fault in a car crash claim
In a personal injury action stemming from a car crash, you and the other party must prove liability for the accident. To do so, you will need to provide evidence such as witness statements, medical records and police reports. The court will then consider both your and the other parties’ actions and assign a percentage of fault to each driver.
The court will then calculate the compensation you receive from the car crash claim by reducing the total amount by your percentage of fault. Since your settlement directly relates to the proportion of fault, demonstrating that the other party had a larger share of responsibility in the accident can help increase the damages you recover for injuries, lost wages and other related expenses.
Overall, as long as you do not have 100% responsibility for the accident, you likely can recover compensation post-car crash.
