When an accident causes injuries, one of the first thoughts that most people have is about who was to blame. A negligent individual who causes injury to others in an accident is generally responsible for compensating victims under North Carolina law.
If the accident was partly caused by the victim's own negligence, the contributory negligence law of North Carolina could prohibit the victim from receiving any compensation and negatively affect the accident case.
What is Contributory Negligence?
You should be aware of contributory negligence if you reside in North Carolina. Contributory negligence is a legal term that has a huge effect on accident cases where parties get injured in North Carolina, which is why you can learn more about it if you've been hurt.
Contributory negligence is a legal concept used as a defense to suggest that the person who is harmed is also partially to blame, such as in a personal injury claim. The first ‘hurdle' to overcome in personal injury cases is proving fault. Both the defendant and the plaintiff can be at fault when an accident occurs.
Understanding Contributory Negligence in North Carolina
Negligence is a general concept in the law that requires a duty to act and a breach of that duty. In general, negligence is described as the failure — or breach of the duty — to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent individual would use in the same situation.
A victim must meet three conditions to seek damages from a negligent party:
• The person who caused the accident was negligent;
• The negligence caused the accident and the victim's injuries; and
• The victim suffered measurable injuries and damages as a result of the negligence.
A victim must prove all three of these elements to obtain compensation.
In North Carolina, however, showing the three conditions is not enough to allow the victim to compensation. In accident situations, the state follows a concept known as strict contributory negligence.
If a victim's own negligence contributed to the accident in some way, the victim is not entitled to any compensation under the strict (or pure) contributory negligence law. Even if the negligent party is 99 percent at fault and the victim is 1% at fault, the victim is not entitled to any compensation from the at-fault party. It's a harsh law with often horrific consequences.
Other states have a provision known as comparative negligence, in which a contributory negligent victim may be entitled to recover any portion of damages for their injuries.
Are there any exceptions to the Strict Contributory Negligence rule in NC?
Contributory negligence can be a major hurdle in personal injury cases, and it can affect your accident case in North Carolina. The "last clear chance doctrine" is one contributory negligence defense. For instance, if the plaintiff driver is at risk and the defendant driver should have taken action to prevent harming the plaintiff (for example, by hitting the brakes), but does not, the plaintiff can still recover under this doctrine, even if his own negligence put him in risk.
This doctrine allows a contributorily negligent plaintiff to benefit from a defendant if the plaintiff may show that the defendant had the last clear opportunity to prevent the injury-causing event and did not.
Willful and wanton conduct, which is beyond normal negligence but not quite intentional, is also a defense to the harsh law of contributory negligence. Driving while impaired is the most common example.
Changing the Contributory Negligence Law
Though efforts to reform North Carolina's contributory negligence law have been made in the past, these proposals have failed to pass the legislature at the moment. Since insurance firms in North Carolina will have to pay out more in claims if the state implemented a comparative negligence rule, the insurance industry's resistance to reforms is one of the main roadblocks to changing the law. Insurance companies are always looking out for ways to mitigate settlement amounts to maximize profits. Other states, on the other hand, have been able to enact more fair laws that benefit injured people, and North Carolina should also be able to do the same.
Consult with a North Carolina Personal Injury Attorney
If you or a loved one has been hurt in a North Carolina personal injury accident, you must seek legal representation from a North Carolina personal injury lawyer. It can create an effect on the outcome of your case if you have an experienced and competent North Carolina personal injury attorney by your side who is familiar with the state's contributory negligence laws.
