Car Accident Attorneys Austin | Comparative Negligence
Carabin Shaw is one of the leading personal injury law firms in Texas. They have extensive experience in Personal Injury Claims-Car Accident Cases, focusing on securing maximum compensation for clients that reflects the full extent of their medical bills, property damage, and pain and suffering.
Specialization: Personal injury, car accidents, wrongful death, 18-wheeler accidents.
Car Accident Attorneys Austin: Our Lawyers Explain Comparative Negligence in Texas
The other driver ran a red light and hit you, but you were slightly exceeding the speed limit. The insurance adjuster says you’re 20% at fault for the accident, and they’re reducing your settlement accordingly. Is this legal? Can they really cut your compensation because you weren’t driving perfectly? Our car accident attorneys Austin hear these questions constantly, and the answers lie in understanding Texas comparative negligence law—a system that allocates fault between parties and adjusts compensation based on each party’s responsibility for causing the collision.
How Texas Comparative Negligence Works
Texas follows a “modified comparative negligence” system that governs how fault affects car accident compensation. Under this system, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault—but only if your fault remains below a critical threshold.
The 51% Bar Rule
Texas law bars recovery entirely if you’re 51% or more at fault for an accident. If a jury determines you bear majority responsibility for a collision, you recover nothing regardless of how severely you were injured.
However, if your fault is 50% or less, you can recover damages reduced by your fault percentage. If you’re 20% at fault for an accident that caused $100,000 in damages, you recover $80,000. If you’re 50% at fault, you recover $50,000.
Our Austin car accident lawyer team fights to minimize fault attributed to our clients, knowing that every percentage point of fault directly reduces their compensation.
How Fault Gets Determined
Fault allocation in Texas car accident cases happens through negotiation or litigation. Insurance adjusters initially assign fault percentages based on their investigation, but these determinations aren’t final. Our car accident attorneys Austin challenge unfair fault allocations through negotiation and, when necessary, through litigation where juries make final fault determinations.
Factors considered in fault allocation include traffic law violations, right-of-way rules, driver attention and awareness, vehicle speeds, road conditions, and any contributing behavior by either party.
Common Comparative Negligence Scenarios
Our car accident lawyers in Austin encounter certain comparative negligence situations repeatedly in Austin accident cases.
Speeding Victims
Insurance companies love blaming accident victims for speeding, even when speeding played no role in causing the collision. A driver who runs a red light and hits you would have hit you regardless of whether you were traveling 30 mph or 35 mph. Our Austin car accident attorney team argues against fault allocation based on irrelevant conduct that didn’t contribute to the accident.
Failure to Avoid Accidents
Insurance adjusters sometimes argue that victims should have taken evasive action to avoid collisions caused by other drivers. While Texas law requires drivers to exercise reasonable care, it doesn’t require superhuman reflexes or perfect decision-making in emergency situations. Our car accident lawyer Austin pushes back against unreasonable failure-to-avoid arguments.
Seatbelt Non-Use
Texas law requires seatbelt use, and not wearing a seatbelt can affect your recovery—but only regarding injuries the seatbelt would have prevented. If you weren’t wearing a seatbelt and suffered a broken arm that would have occurred regardless, seatbelt non-use doesn’t reduce your compensation for that injury. Our Austin car accident lawyers ensure fault allocation reflects actual causation.
Multiple Vehicle Accidents
Chain reaction collisions involve multiple potentially negligent parties. Texas comparative negligence allows fault allocation among all responsible parties, with each bearing responsibility proportionate to their contribution. Our car accident attorneys Austin ensure that fault is properly distributed rather than unfairly concentrated on our clients.
Insurance Company Fault Allocation Tactics
Insurance companies systematically overstate accident victims’ fault to reduce claim values. Our Austin car accident attorney team recognizes and counters these tactics.
Exaggerating Minor Violations
Adjusters magnify minor traffic violations into major fault contributors. A victim who failed to signal a lane change gets blamed significantly for an accident actually caused by a drunk driver. Our car accident lawyers Austin put fault in proper perspective, ensuring minor violations don’t carry disproportionate weight.
Ignoring Defendant Violations
While exaggerating victim fault, insurers simultaneously minimize at-fault driver violations. They characterize running red lights as “entering on yellow” or speeding as “keeping pace with traffic.” Our Austin car accident lawyers hold negligent drivers accountable for their actual conduct.
Misrepresenting Evidence
Some adjusters mischaracterize evidence to support fault arguments. They describe police reports as blaming victims when reports actually support victim accounts. Our car accident attorney Austin reviews all evidence independently rather than accepting insurance company characterizations.
Early Fault Demands
Insurance companies contact accident victims quickly, seeking statements before victims consult attorneys. Statements made during these early contacts can be used to support fault arguments later. Our car accident attorneys in Austin advise clients to avoid detailed statements until we can review their cases.
How Our Austin Car Accident Lawyers Minimize Client Fault
Our Austin car accident lawyer team employs strategic approaches to reduce fault attributed to our clients, maximizing their recoveries.
Thorough Investigation
We investigate accidents comprehensively, gathering evidence that supports our clients’ accounts and undermines fault arguments against them. Witness statements, surveillance footage, physical evidence, and expert analysis all contribute to establishing accurate fault allocation.
Legal Research
Texas comparative negligence law contains nuances that affect fault arguments. Our car accident lawyer Austin researches applicable legal standards, identifying precedents that support favorable fault allocation for our clients.
Expert Witnesses
Accident reconstruction experts and other specialists can provide testimony establishing how accidents occurred and who bears responsibility. Their objective analysis carries weight with juries considering fault allocation.
Aggressive Negotiation
We push back forcefully against unfair fault arguments during settlement negotiations. Insurance companies know that taking cases to trial risks juries rejecting their fault theories entirely. This knowledge motivates more reasonable fault allocation in settlement discussions.
Trial Readiness
When insurance companies refuse reasonable fault allocation, our Austin car accident attorneys take cases to trial where juries make final fault determinations. Juries often allocate fault more favorably than insurance company adjusters, vindicating our clients’ positions.
Protecting Your Recovery
Texas comparative negligence law means that every fault percentage point matters. If insurance companies can attribute 20% fault rather than 10%, they reduce your compensation by 10%. The stakes make fighting fault allocation essential.
Our car accident attorneys Austin understand these stakes and fight aggressively to protect our clients’ recoveries. We don’t accept insurance company fault determinations as final—we challenge unfair allocations and present evidence supporting our clients’ positions.
If you’ve been injured in an Austin car accident and the insurance company is blaming you for the collision, contact our car accident lawyers in Austin for a case evaluation. We’ll review the evidence, assess the fault arguments, and explain how we can fight for the compensation you deserve.
