Car accidents are common in Cincinnati, and some of them result in serious injuries and deaths. When a victim sustains losses in a collision with another car, they may want to pursue their legal options for recovering their damages. Doing so can involve litigation based on the negligence of the driver who caused their accident.
Negligence is an important personal injury cause of action that has several elements that victims must prove to recover what they have suffered. Part of a negligence claim involves showing that the responsible part failed to act a reasonable person would under the circumstances. This post will discuss the reasonable driver standard for accident claims, and all questions about negligence-based personal injury litigation can be directed to local personal injury attorneys.
Understanding reasonableness under the circumstances
The reasonable person standard is an objective one. It creates an ideal individual and places them in the situation that gave rise to the accident or injury-causing event on which the litigation is based. It examines how they would have acted if they were in the place of the responsible driver to determine if that driver act reasonably or negligently.
For example, a driver who texts in heavy traffic rear-ends the car in front of them on the highway. During trial, the court may look at what a reasonable driver would have done in the situation of the driver. A reasonable driver would have noted traffic and not picked up their phone so that they could have dedicated their focus to driving. The driver in the scenario may be found to have acted negligently and breached their duty of care to others.
Litigation for car accident personal injuries
Not everyone who is involved in a car accident may want to sue for their losses. However, those who do should be aware that they have rights and options for seeking compensation to make them whole. They may have to file a pleading with the courts, and they may have to appear before a judge to explain their claims. They do not have to do any of those actions on their own, though, as they can seek the counsel and guidance of a personal injury attorney to assist them.
