Contributory Negligence
Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 in Uncategorized
North Carolina’s legal system to establish personal injury damage awards at trial. North Carolina is one of only 5 states, including Washington D.C. that follow a “pure” contributory negligence rule. This law is used to determine whether or not a plaintiff may recover from the person who did them harm. The basis for this law comes from an English common law principle that a person who is negligent in causing harm to another should not be held responsible for those actions if the injured person contributed to their own injury, even if only slightly. Some states apply a form of comparative negligence, where the judge or jury apportions a percentage of fault to the defendant or plaintiff, depending on the facts. Under most comparative negligence systems, an injured person may still recover something if the defendant(s) caused the majority of the circumstances leading to the injury, and the plaintiff had only a minor role in causing the harm.
Sometimes insurance adjusters use contributory negligence to deny legitimate personal injury claims. One example is when a plaintiff drives through an intersection with a green light and is hit by a car running the red light from the side. If the impact occurs towards the front of the plaintiff’s vehicle, the insurance companies usually “accepts” the claim as legitimate. If the impact occurs toward the middle to rear of the plaintiff’s vehicle, the insurance companies often “deny” the claim. The argument made by the insurance company is that the plaintiff had enough time to respond and react to the defendant running the red light, since the impact occurred toward the middle or rear of the plaintiff’s car. However, a plaintiff generally expects that he or she can proceed safely through an intersection with a green light, and may not anticipate a car running a red light.
As the plaintiff’s attorney in this case, we may be able to plead the “last clear chance” doctrine, but to do that we must admit that the plaintiff put himself in a position of peril. In this case, if a jury agrees with the defense attorney, and finds the plaintiff 1% responsible for the injuries, the jury can return a zero verdict. This is a bad enough result if property damage is the only issue in the case, but really becomes problematic when a family loses a loved one, or suffered severe injuries, and has piles of medical bills to pay.
Contributory Negligence is frequently on the agenda for our legislature, and we may see a change in this system sometime in the future. For now however, it is extremely important for injured victims to be very careful when talking to insurance companies without an attorney if there is any chance that an insurance adjuster could deny a legitimate claim because of a technical argument of contributory negligence. If you or a loved one have been hurt in a car wreck, give us a call and we can discuss your legal rights with you, and help you avoid some of the tricks the insurance industry uses to deny legitimate personal injury claims.