What Evidence Do You Need to Prove Liability In Montana Car Accidents?
A car accident is terrifying and traumatic, especially when it results in serious injury to you or a loved one. While the initial concern is safety and emergency medical treatment, after the initial trauma subsides, car accident injury victims in Montana face the additional distress of a car accident claim under the state’s fault-based insurance laws.
In Montana, a car accident victim has the burden of proving the responsible driver’s liability through compelling evidence in order to obtain compensation for damages such as property damage, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. It often requires a skilled Bozeman personal injury attorney to protect the accident victim’s best interests.
What Are the Legal Standards of Liability In Montana Car Accident Cases?
Proving liability requires a car accident injury victim to show evidence of the at-fault driver’s liability for the accident. To meet the burden of proof, a car accident attorney investigates all aspects of the accident and documents evidence showing the following:
- The responsible party owed a duty of reasonable care to the injury victim
- They breached that duty through negligence
- Their breach of duty caused the accident and injury
- The injury victim suffered damages from the injury
Before sending their findings to the appropriate insurance company, an injury victim’s lawyer must document clear and compelling evidence backing each legal standard of liability.
Evidence From the Accident Scene
Gathering evidence for a successful car accident claim begins at the scene of the accident when the responding officer generates a police report. The police report contains crucial information, including the officer’s observations when they arrived, the contact information of all involved drivers, eyewitness statements, and their contact information. If a car accident injury victim isn’t incapacitated and is able to use their phone at the scene, they often preserve important evidence by taking photos of the damaged vehicles and the accident scene.
Evidence from the accident scene, any traffic camera footage, and the police report becomes critical to proving which driver caused the accident or how much each driver contributed to the accident. Under the state’s modified comparative negligence system, a car accident injury victim can still recover a portion of compensation as long as they are less than 51% at fault; however, the insurance company reduces the payout on their claim by their percentage of fault. Evidence from the scene can protect an injury victim from an insurance company’s attempt to shift liability to them to protect their profits.
Evidence of Damages In a Montana Car Accident Claim
The final standard of liability in a car accident claim in Montana is evidence of an injury victim’s damages. In legal terms, “damages” refers to the economic and non-economic consequences of the injury. Evidence of damages includes the injury victim’s medical report, copies of medical bills and receipts, and a medical expert’s testimony about the level and duration of the pain and suffering associated with their injury. Further evidence often shows financial damages from lost wages, future income loss for scheduled medical procedures and recovery time, or lowered future earning ability due to disability.
Negotiating for a Settlement or Going to Court
When a Bozeman car accident lawyer has compelling evidence of the at-fault party’s liability, they use this to strengthen their case during negotiations for a full and fair settlement from the at-fault party’s insurance company. Nearly 95% of claims end with a settlement when an attorney presents ample evidence. If the insurance company denies the claim or undervalues the settlement, the evidence becomes central to a successful case in court.