Broadside Automobile Accident

California is a comparative negligence state. This means the judge or jury can apportion fault. When one is injured in an automobile accident the defense will attempt to show that the injured party was partially at fault, even if the police report puts their client completely at fault. I have seen this happen many times and one needs to be careful not to fall into the defense lawyer or the insurance companies trap. For example in Downey, California an automobile accident occurred at an intersection where the defendant was arguably clearly at fault. The plaintiff sustained back and neck injuries and a left hand injury which was injured because her hand was outside of her vehicle when the car rolled over. The defense successfully argued that the accident was partially the plaintiff's fault because she should have had time to react to the accident. The jury came back with a verdict of $49,534.00 minus 20% for plaintiff's comparative negligence. See Joy Ahem v. Helen Perez et al., docket no. VC033944.