Understanding Comparative Negligence in Florida Car Accident Cases

Negligence is the foundation of most personal injury claims in Florida, including car accident cases. After a motor vehicle collision, the injured victim may be able to collect financial compensation from a negligent party. Understanding how Florida’s comparative negligence law works can help you maximize your financial recovery after a harmful car accident.

What Is Negligence?

The definition of negligence is the failure to act with reasonable, proper or appropriate care based on the circumstances. In a car accident, for example, negligence can refer to a driver’s failure to obey traffic signs or pay attention to the road. If a reasonable and prudent driver would have behaved differently and prevented the car accident, the at-fault driver can be held responsible for a crash based on the legal doctrine of negligence.

How to Prove Negligence in a Car Accident Claim

Florida is a no-fault state. However, in some circumstances, a claim can be brought against an at-fault driver. In a car accident claim against someone else’s insurance company, the victim or plaintiff has the burden of proof, meaning the responsibility to prove the truth of the claim that is being made. The evidentiary standard that must be met is a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning more likely to be true than not true.

Proving negligence requires evidence or proof that the defendant owed the injured victim a duty of care, or a responsibility to act in a certain manner, but breached or failed to meet this duty, resulting in the car accident that injured the plaintiff. In addition, the victim must have proof of losses or damages suffered due to the car crash, such as bodily injuries, medical bills and property damage.

What Is Florida’s Comparative Negligence Law?

When the elements of negligence are proven with clear and convincing evidence, the accused party or defendant must pay for the victim’s losses. However, fault for a car accident is not always clear-cut. In some cases, the defendant and plaintiff share fault. These cases will involve Florida’s comparative negligence law, also known as “contributory fault.”

Florida Statutes § 768.81 states:

• (2) EFFECT OF CONTRIBUTORY FAULT.—In a negligence action, contributory fault chargeable to the claimant diminishes proportionately the amount awarded as economic and noneconomic damages for an injury attributable to the claimant’s contributory fault, but does not bar recovery, subject to subsection (6).
• (6) GREATER PERCENTAGE OF FAULT.—In a negligence action to which this section applies, any party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages.

Florida operates under a modified comparative negligence system. This means a plaintiff cannot recover any financial compensation if he or she is allocated 51 percent or more of the fault for a car accident. With less than 51 percent of fault, the plaintiff’s financial award will be reduced by an amount that is equivalent to his or her degree of fault.

How Could Comparative Negligence Affect Your Car Accident Case?

If you are found to be partially at fault for a car accident in Florida, you can still recover financial compensation. If you are given 15 percent of fault, for example, a settlement of $100,000 would be reduced by 15 percent ($15,000) to $85,000. The modified comparative negligence rule makes it important to prove fault if you wish to maximize your financial recovery.

An attorney can hire experts and gather compelling evidence to help you prove your car accident case against another party. For a free car accident case review in Tampa, contact Vanguard Attorneys at (813) 471-4444.