Proving Negligence After Car Accidents in Connecticut

Car accident claims in Connecticut are based on the concept of negligence. Someone whose negligent behavior causes a car accident is financially responsible for the consequences of that accident. To prove negligence after a car accident in Connecticut, you need to present sufficient evidence that the other person failed to act as a reasonably careful person would in similar circumstances, and that you were injured as a result of that carelessness.

At D’Amico Pettinicchi Injury Lawyers, we have over 35+ years of experience helping victims of car accidents prove that other parties were negligent. When we help victims of car accidents, we take the time to thoroughly investigate the facts of the case to prove where negligence occurred. We limit the number of car accident clients we accept to ensure that each family gets the time, attention, resources, and dedication they deserve.

To learn more about how we investigate car accidents and prove negligence, contact us today to schedule a free consultation. You will never owe out-of-pocket attorney fees, and we only get paid if we recover money for you.

When It’s Time To Fight The Good Fight℠, turn to D’Amico Pettinicchi.

How Do You Prove Negligence After a Connecticut Car Accident?

To prove negligence after a Connecticut car accident, you generally need evidence showing that another person had a legal duty to drive safely, failed to meet that duty, caused the crash, and caused injuries or losses as a result. Evidence may include the police report, photos, video footage, witness statements, medical records, vehicle damage, roadway evidence, cell phone records, car data event recorders, and expert analysis.

Because insurance companies may dispute fault or argue that you share responsibility, preserving evidence early can make a major difference in the outcome of a car accident claim.

Where Negligence Issues Often Arise in Connecticut Car Accident Claims

Negligence can become a major issue after crashes on Connecticut highways such as I-84, I-91, I-95, Route 8, Route 7, Route 9, and the Merritt Parkway, as well as on local roads, intersections, parking lots, and neighborhood streets. Whether the crash involved a rear-end collision, left-turn accident, intersection crash, sideswipe, chain-reaction collision, or head-on crash, the key question is often the same: what did each driver do, what should they have done, and what evidence proves it?

What Is Negligence in a Connecticut Car Accident Case?

Negligence is a key concept in tort law, with a tort being a type of civil wrong someone commits that harms another person. Negligence is a legal term that essentially means carelessness. More specifically, it describes a failure to behave with the level of care that a reasonable person would exhibit under the same circumstances.

So, what are the four elements of a tort of negligence? They are as follows:

  • The existence of a legal duty – Everyone who operates a vehicle in Connecticut has a duty to behave responsibly and follow the rules of the road.
  • The breach of that duty – The defendant failed to live up to their duty to operate their vehicle safely. For example, let’s say Driver A makes an unsafe left turn in front of an oncoming vehicle driven by Driver B.
  • Causation – The defendant’s breach was the underlying cause of a subsequent accident. To continue our example, Driver A’s decision to turn left when it wasn’t safe to do so directly caused the collision with Driver B.
  • Damages – The defendant’s actions harmed the injured person in a way that can be offset financially. Damages could include both economic losses like medical expenses and lost income, as well as non-economic harms like pain and suffering.

Examples of negligence in the context of a car accident might include:

Parties beyond the other driver could also act with negligence, such as:

  • Manufacturers of defective vehicle components
  • Designers of poorly planned roads or construction zones
  • Bars that overserved patrons who went on to cause drunk driving accidents

At D’Amico Pettinicchi, our personal injury attorneys launch full investigations to determine all potentially liable parties in a personal injury claim.

Common Types of Evidence Used to Prove Negligence

It takes evidence to establish the four elements needed to prove negligence. For car accidents, this could include:

  • Police accident reports
  • Photos of the accident scene
  • Surveillance, traffic, or dashboard camera footage of the accident occurring
  • Physical evidence like debris and skid marks
  • Cell phone records showing the other driver was distracted
  • Vehicle event data recorders and electronic control modules
  • Eyewitness testimony

Medical Evidence Also Matters

Proving negligence is not only about showing how the crash happened. You also need to show how the crash caused your injuries and losses. Medical records, diagnostic testing, specialist evaluations, physical therapy notes, surgical records, work restrictions, and documentation of future care needs can help establish the full impact of the accident.

This is especially important when an insurance company argues that your injuries were pre-existing, unrelated to the crash, or less serious than claimed.

Steps to Take After a Car Accident to Preserve Evidence

You’ll need strong evidence to show that the other driver (or another party) behaved negligently and hurt you as a result. Unfortunately, this evidence can become harder to come by the longer you wait. The accident scene will get cleaned up. Eyewitnesses’ memories will start to fade. Cameras’ digital memory banks will get overwritten. Car event data recorders will be erased. As such, it’s important to act fast to preserve as much of this evidence as you can.

The good news is that you don’t have to do it on your own. Instead, you can hire an experienced car accident lawyer. At D’Amico Pettinicchi, we rely on a network of independent experts and car accident reconstructionists who help collect and interpret key evidence while it’s still fresh. The sooner you get in touch with a lawyer, the more they can do on your behalf.

That said, you can help lay the groundwork for a strong claim by:

  • Reporting the accident to the police so that they take a report of their findings
  • Taking photos and videos of the scene if you’re able to
  • Getting the contact info of the involved parties and people who saw what happened
  • Getting medical attention promptly so that there is a clear link between the accident and any injuries you may have suffered

Nearby Video Footage Should Be Preserved Quickly

In many Connecticut car accident cases, nearby video can become important evidence. Footage may come from dashcams, traffic cameras, doorbell cameras, gas stations, businesses, apartment buildings, parking lots, or nearby homes.

This footage can help show vehicle movement, traffic signals, speed, lane position, weather, road conditions, and what happened in the moments before impact. Because video may be overwritten quickly, it is important to identify and preserve it as soon as possible after a serious crash.

How Accident Reconstruction Experts Support Car Accident Claims

Accident reconstruction experts are professionals who have a deep understanding of physics and engineering and how these concepts apply to collisions. They can use their deep insights to interpret crash evidence and use it to recreate a likely chain of events that led up to it.

For example, if you’re wondering how to prove someone was speeding in an accident, the answer may involve working with an accident reconstruction specialist. They might look at video footage on a frame-by-frame basis to estimate the vehicle’s speed, or look at skid marks to reverse-engineer how fast the car was going based on their length.

Why Police Reports Matter in Connecticut Car Accident Cases

Connecticut law requires that police officers who respond to a car accident that results in injury, death, or at least $1,000 in property damage must make an official report of the accident. This report includes information about the parties involved in the crash, their insurance policies, and a brief summary of what led up to the crash. When the facts contained in it aren’t in dispute, a police accident report may be enough for an insurer to accept its policyholder’s negligence. In more involved cases, the report is merely the starting point for further investigation.

What If the Insurance Company Says You Were Partly at Fault?

After a car accident, the other driver’s insurance company may argue that you were speeding, following too closely, distracted, failed to brake in time, changed lanes unsafely, or otherwise contributed to the crash. These arguments matter because assigning even partial fault to you can reduce the value of your claim.

A careful investigation can help push back against unfair blame. Photos, vehicle damage, roadway evidence, traffic camera footage, witness statements, and accident reconstruction analysis may show that the other driver’s negligence caused the crash.

How Connecticut’s Comparative Negligence Rule Can Affect Your Claim

Connecticut’s modified comparative negligence law can affect your claim if you’re partially at fault for the accident. Under this rule, courts hearing car accident cases assign both the plaintiff (the person who filed the lawsuit) and the defendant (the person the lawsuit was filed against) a percentage of fault. Any compensation the plaintiff recovers is reduced proportionally to their share of fault. So if the court awards a plaintiff $100,000 but finds them to be 15 percent at fault for the accident, the award would be reduced to $85,000. The rule also means that a plaintiff can’t recover any compensation at all if they are more than 50 percent at fault for the accident.

If you’re wondering how to prove you’re not at fault in a car accident, the answer is to hire an experienced car accident lawyer. They can fight to reduce your share of liability by recovering evidence that shows the other driver’s negligence caused the crash and your injuries.

Contact a Connecticut Car Accident Attorney for a Free Consultation

At D’Amico Pettinicchi, we’re proud to have secured some of the most significant verdicts and settlements for those affected by car accidents in Connecticut, including:

  1. $45,000,000 for a 22-year-old who suffered paraplegia in a motorcycle accident with a dangerously parked tow truck
  2. $23,050,000 for a young boy who sustained a brain injury in a school bus crash
  3. $5,300,000 for an elderly woman who suffered serious injuries and lost her husband in a head-on collision
  4. $3,975,000 for a young woman who suffered facial injuries as the passenger of a vehicle involved in a chain-reaction crash
  5. $1,100,000 for a 36-year-old man who sustained injuries to his back, shoulder, and wrist when another driver failed to yield and crossed into his path

Here’s what one former client had to say about their experience with our firm:

“This office is so on top of everything. Everyone there is polite, helpful, and very good at what they do. Attorney Pettinnicchi is great. He fights for you and also for what he believes in. I am so grateful to him. So happy that I entrusted him with my case. Thank you!!!” *

If you’ve been hurt in an accident, we can investigate what happened to prove the other driver’s negligence and then negotiate with their insurance provider for a fair settlement. If they still refuse to treat you fairly, we are not afraid to take them to court. We prepare every claim as if it might go to trial.

Trial experience matters in car accident claims. Our founding partner Michael D’Amico is dual board-certified in civil trial advocacy and civil pretrial practice by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. This honor is only awarded to attorneys with extensive, proven trial experience. He has also been consistently named a Top 10 Connecticut Super Lawyer in the field of personal injury and recognized as a Best Lawyer in America.

When It’s Time To Fight The Good Fight℠, it’s time to contact D’Amico Pettinicchi for your free, no-pressure consultation.

*These Case Results are based upon the particular facts and circumstances of each case. No two cases are alike, and trying to compare two cases is like trying to compare apples with oranges. No representation is made nor intended to imply that a similar result may be obtained in a different case under other facts and circumstances.