car accident claim

How To Prove A Driver Was At Fault In A Car Accident Claim

To succeed in a car accident claim you must prove that another driver was legally responsible for the collision and that their driving error caused your injury.

Learn how your solicitor determines legal fault in the eyes of the law for your car accident; why this process is largely the same for all motor vehicle accidents; who is responsible when your road accident involves someone driving as part of a job and what happens to your compensation claim if you caused the accident yourself.

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How do solicitors prove who was at fault in a car accident claim?

To succeed in a car accident claim your solicitor must prove several legal elements in addition to negligence.

Proving Legal Fault Is Independent Of Vehicle Type

The process to show legal responsibility for a car accident claim is largely the same for all vehicle types.
As long as your accident involves at least one motor vehicle.

You can learn more about the process of bringing a compensation claim in our motor vehicle accident claim guide.

The steps involved in proving legal fault include:

You must be owed a duty of care

A vehicle driver owes a duty of care to not only their passengers and other vehicle drivers, but also pedestrians and other road users.

Example Of Duty Of Care Being Owed

Imagine a car driver collides with you as you cross a road as a pedestrian. Clearly you are owed a duty of care as a pedestrian road user.

However, someone looking from their house window at the time of the accident (alleging a claim of shock) is not necessarily owed a duty of care.

A driving error must have occurred

You must show that a driving error has occurred to be able to make a car accident claim for personal injury compensation. In law this error is called “negligence”.

Prosecution for a criminal offence

If the other driver is convicted of a driving offence as a result of your accident – this will often be enough evidence to show that the driver was also negligent. Your solicitor can rely on the prosecution and conviction as evidence.

The Burden Of Proof Is Higher In Criminal Cases

The legal test (known as the burden of proof) is higher in criminal law than in a personal claim.

The criminal test is beyond reasonable doubt. Whereas, in the civil law (including personal injury claims) the burden of proof is lower. Namely, it is on the balance of probability.

Use your common sense

Generally, we are all road users (whether as a motor vehicle driver, pedestrian, cyclist, etc). Therefore, we are familiar with the rules of the road. This can be described as common sense.

We can use this common sense to decide whether a driving error has occurred.

Consider the road safety rules in the Highway Code

All drivers are familiar with the Highway Code which describes the road safety rules in the UK.

If a driver has broken these rules – you will know that he has made a driving error or been “negligent” in the eyes of the law.

Foreseeability

You must overcome the hurdle of foreseeability to prove legal fault.

Was it foreseeable that a driving error, of the kind made, could cause you (or some other road user) injury.

EXAMPLE 1 – Looking At Mobile Phone And Crossing Red Light

Imagine you are driving your car and looked down to use your mobile phone. At that point a traffic light turned to red, which you then passed through. As a result you collide with a vehicle passing through the lights legitimately on green (travelling in a different direction).
Clearly it is foreseeable that the other road user could be injured by this driving error.

EXAMPLE 2 – Pedestrian Falls Over Seeing Your Car Hit A Kerb

Imagine you again looked down at your mobile whilst driving. However, this time you hit the kerb and come to an abrupt stop.
At the same time, a man walking on the pavement on the other side of the road (seeing your vehicle hit the kerb) was distracted causing him to trip over.
These two accident events are not reasonably connected. It was not foreseeable that this driving error could cause injury to an unconnected pedestrian in this way.

Causation

The driving error must have caused your actual personal injury.

The legal term for this is medical “causation”.

An independent medical expert (instructed as part of your claim) will need to conclude that any injuries you are suffering were caused as direct result of the road accident.

In other words – the injuries you are suffering were actually caused directly by the traffic accident. and did not already exist before the accident.

Injuries can include both physical injuries, such as whiplash or a broken arm, and psychological injuries, such as post traumatic stress disorder.

The Medical Expert Will Check Your Medical Notes

A medical expert will check your medical notes to establish that you reported your injuries at the time of the accident (contemporaneously). In addition, entries will be examined for pre-existing medical issues ( for injuries of the type you are claiming compensation for).
Therefore, it is essential that your historic medical notes show no evidence of pre-existing problems.
Should they do so – it may be that the expert concludes your injuries were made worse (or simply pre-existing), but were not caused by the accident.

Remoteness

Injuries must not be considered too remote from the accident event. In other words, injuries that may be expected to be caused by the type of accident are not too remote.

For example:

  1. You coming across a car accident in which a pedestrian has suffered injury and as result you suffer a psychological reaction. This will likely be considered too remote. You did not witness the accident and the pedestrian is not connected to you.
  2. However, if you were walking with your son when a car bumped up onto the pavement fatally knocking him down. You are directly connected to the child and you directly witnessed the accident. Therefore, psychological injury may not be considered too remote

Example of how to show a driver is legally responsible for your car accident claim

Imagine you are driving your car along a road when you have to apply your brakes suddenly to avoid a child. A few moments later the vehicle travelling behind you collides with the back of your car causing you to smash your arm on the steering wheel and break your arm.

proving car accident compensation claims
Proving Car Accident Compensation Claims

The process to show the other driver is legally responsible for your collision and potential car accident claim includes:

Duty of care

You are owed a duty of care by the car driver behind you as a fellow road user.

Driving error

Your car has been hit by another, so it is obvious that a driving error has occurred otherwise this could not have happened.

The Highway Code tells drivers to travel no closer than the safe stopping distance from the vehicle in front. The driver behind was not travelling at this safe distance as he did not have time to avoid hitting your car. He has broken the safety rules of the Highway Code.

The driver who hit you may be prosecuted for careless driving – which would support your claim.

However, no prosecution is necessary as it would be relatively straight forward for your solicitor to show negligence.

The accident was foreseeable

It is obvious that the driver could hit your car by not keeping a safe distance behind it, In addition, it is equally obvious that, if he hits your car, the force of the collision could cause you to be injured.

The driving error caused your personal injury

Your GP and hospital notes would show that prior to the car accident you were not suffering from a broken arm. However, as a result of the collision you were x-rayed and a broken arm was detected. An independent medical expert would produce a report verifying all of this that you solicitor can rely on at court as evidence.

Who is responsible if a driver was an employee – driving as part of a job?

Sometimes a driver who caused your road accident will be an employee driving as part of his job.

For example, if a bus collides with your car – the driver will normally be an employee of a bus company driving as part of his job. His employer will not only own the bus, but be responsible for its motor insurance and often be responsible for driver training.

Therefore, the employer of a bus driver – who is responsible for your collisio, will equally be considered to be responsible for your car accident claim through vicarious liability.

Can you make a claim if you were at fault?

No – generally you cannot make a car accident claim if you were at fault. However, you may still be able to claim compensation from your own insurer for your vehicle damage if you had a comprehensive motor insurance policy.

Rarely some motor policies may make a contractual payment for certain specified injuries as set out in your insurance policy.

Comprehensive Motor Insurance Will Usually Pay For Your Vehicle Damage

Even if the accident was your fault, your insurance company will pay for the repair to your vehicle if you have comprehensive motor vehicle insurance,

Generally, for you to have a personal injury compensation claim in the United Kingdom someone other than yourself must have been at fault.

Some Motor Insurance Policies Make Provision For Personal Injury

Rarely some motor policies may make provision of a fixed payment for certain defined injuries of the policy holder.

One such injury may be death.
Remember to check your policy just in case this applies to you.

SUMMARY

In conclusion – to succeed in a car accident claim you must show that another driver was legally responsible for the collision and that their driving error caused your injuries. This guide explained how liability is proven in a road traffic accident claim, including the role of the Highway Code, evidence gathered after the crash, medical causation and how criminal driving offences may support a personal injury claim.

Select from our free telephone & online solicitor assistance. You can not only speak to a solicitor direct, but also ask a question and have your claim assessed.

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