Joint Liability Among Multiple Defendants in Negligence Claims
There are time when more than one person may be responsible for a car crash. Earlier today I was working on a case where a car stopped in front of my client’s vehicle to make a left turn. My client brought her vehicle to a stop behind the first vehicle. Then a third vehicle struck my client from behind, pushing her vehicle into the first vehicle.
My client was seriously injured in this accident and the vehicle which rear-ended her did not have high enough insurance limits to fully compensate her for her injuries.
However, an investigation of the scene revealed that the first vehicle was attempting to make an illegal left turn at the point where she stopped. As such, the first driver was also responsible for causing the crash and therefore their insurance policy was also available as another source of compensation for my client.
In Massachusetts a defendant’s negligence does not need to be the only cause of a plaintiff’s injury for that defendant to be held responsible for the plaintiff’s injury. As long as a defendant’s negligence contributed to causing the plaintiff’s injury, that defendant is still liable. When multiple parties’ negligently actions each contributed to causing a plaintiff’s injuries, then they can be held jointly liable.
As such, for my case, both drivers share responsibility for operating their vehicles in a negligent manner and contributing to causing the crash that resulted in injury to my client.
If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, please contact me at my office at 781-599-5001 or on my cell at 978-852-0914. Or, if you prefer, via email at william@michaelmahoneylaw.com.
I’m also happy to discuss this or any other question you may have about personal injury claims for free at any time.