After a Utah car accident, fault is not always an all-or-nothing question. One driver may have caused the collision, but that driver’s insurance company may argue that the injured person also did something that contributed to what happened.
Maybe the other driver ran a red light but claims you were speeding. Perhaps they turned in front of you but insist you could have avoided the collision. An insurer might even argue that your own actions made your injuries worse.
Being accused of sharing responsibility does not automatically mean you cannot recover compensation. However, the percentage of fault assigned to you can significantly affect your claim.
At Swenson & Shelley, our Salt Lake City personal injury attorneys help crash victims understand what allegations of partial fault may mean and why those allegations should be supported by evidence, not simply accepted because an insurance company makes them.
Utah Uses a Comparative Fault System
Utah law allows fault for an injury to be divided among the people or entities whose actions contributed to it. That means a crash does not necessarily have to be entirely one driver’s fault.
An injured person may still recover damages when assigned some responsibility, as long as their share of fault remains below the threshold established by Utah law.
If an injured person is assigned 50% or more of the total fault, recovery is barred. If the person’s fault is less than 50%, damages are generally reduced according to the percentage of fault assigned to that person.
For example, if someone sustained $100,000 in damages but was found 20% at fault, that percentage could reduce the recoverable damages accordingly.
Why Would the Other Side Try to Put Some Fault on You?
Even a small shift in fault can affect how much an insurer ultimately has to pay. That gives insurance companies a financial reason to closely examine the injured person’s conduct.
They may question whether you were:
- Speeding.
- Following too closely.
- Distracted.
- Driving aggressively.
- Failing to take evasive action.
- Violating another traffic rule.
An allegation, however, is not proof.
A driver saying, “You could have stopped,” does not establish that you actually had enough time or distance to do so.
The Evidence May Tell a Different Story
When drivers disagree about how a collision occurred, evidence becomes especially important.
Depending on the crash, that may include photographs, surveillance or traffic-camera footage, vehicle damage, witness accounts, electronic vehicle data, phone records, roadway evidence, and the police report.
Physical evidence can sometimes contradict another driver’s version of events.
Consider a driver who turns left across your path and later claims you were traveling too fast. Determining whether speed actually contributed to the collision may require much more than that driver’s account.
Investigators may need to examine where the vehicles collided, available sight distance, vehicle damage, electronic data, and how much time each driver had to react.
Fault Percentages Can Become a Major Battleground
Arguments about comparative fault matter because percentages translate directly into dollars.
An insurer does not necessarily have to convince everyone that you caused the crash. Showing you contributed may be enough to reduce what the company must pay.
That makes it important to scrutinize how an insurer reached its conclusions. A proposed percentage of fault is not necessarily the final word on what happened.
Swenson & Shelley Helps Utah Crash Victims Challenge Unfair Fault Allegations
Being blamed for part of a collision can make an already difficult situation more confusing. You may know the other driver caused the crash, but you’re facing an insurance company trying to shift some responsibility back onto you.
Swenson & Shelley investigates Utah crashes, evaluates the evidence, and challenges fault allegations that don’t accurately reflect what happened.
If you were injured in a Utah collision and the other driver or insurance company is blaming you for part of the crash, call Swenson & Shelley at 435-228-7647 or contact us online for a free consultation.
Kevin Swenson is an award-winning Utah injury attorney and co-founding partner of Swenson & Shelley. With over 30 years of experience, he uses his background as a former insurance defense lawyer to fight for injured individuals, helping clients recover and rebuild after serious accidents.
(435) 767-7777
