LAWYER HELPLINE: ☎ 855 804 7142

There are over 500,000 motor vehicle collisions in Canada every year which cause almost 250,000 people to be injured, over 20,000 of which are critical injuries of which about 3,000 are fatalities. There are about 8 deaths every day on Canadian roads and there is a serious injury every 2 minutes resulting in over 100,000 claims for compensation ever year in Canada. If you would like to talk to a Kitchener car accident lawyer without further obligation then just use the helpline or send the contact form or email our offices and a Kitchener car accident lawyer who deals exclusively in personal injury accident claims will speak to you with free advice and information on how best to preserve your legal rights to compensation for your injuries.

Kitchener Car Accident Lawyer – Negligence

 

The legal term “negligence” often comes up whenever there has been an accident or injury that causes harm to another person or persons. Often accidents are purely accidental. Sometimes the accident or injury is caused by the actions of another person and when that person becomes the victim of an incident, he or she must hire an attorney to determine if negligence was involved in the incident.

To show negligence, the Kitchener car accident lawyer must demonstrate that the person believed to be the cause of the accident acted or behaved in such a way as to be different from the way a reasonable person would act. The definition of negligence applies not only to individual people but also to organizations, corporations, companies and government agencies. These entities can be negligent if their actions were out of the ordinary when compared with what a reasonable person would do.

In order to show negligence, the Kitchener car accident lawyer needs to demonstrate that a duty of care situation existed in the situation. For example, a doctor has a duty of care with respect to the care of his or her own patients. Likewise, an airline company owes a duty of care to make certain their passengers arrive at their destination safely.

Secondly, the Kitchener car accident lawyer needs to show that a breach of the duty of care regarding the situation that happened. A breach of the duty of care implies that something about the behavior or actions of the person at fault fell below acceptable standards. If the airline company had reasonable policies in place and followed those policies but an accident still happened, the situation is not considered negligence. If a person runs a red light and kills another motorist, however, negligence can be demonstrated.

Lastly, the Kitchener car accident lawyer needs to show that the victim incurred losses and that those losses were directly related to the situation that occurred. The losses might be monetary like lost wages or the cost of medical supplies and treatment. The losses can also be non-monetary and may include losses sustained by a lack of ability to perform the normal acts of daily life.

When the lawyer has demonstrated negligence, he or she must compile the components of a compensation claim. The claim generally has three parts: special damages, general damages and punitive damages.

Special damages are easy to calculate the value of because they have an intrinsic monetary value. Things that have an intrinsic monetary value include medical bills, lost wages, loss of future wages, home health care, the cost of repairing or replacing a vehicle and the cost of renting a car in the meantime.

General damages are harder to put a finger on and are more difficult to find an exact monetary value for because they lack an intrinsic monetary value. These things include losses related to pain and suffering, the lack of ability to advance in one’s career, the loss of ability to do activities of daily life and alienation of affection.

Punitive damages are not always included in the compensation claim. Punitive damages are asked for whenever there was a vicious or malicious intent in the behavior of the person who caused the accident. It is a way to punish the person for his or her bad behavior.

When the claim is compiled, it is filed before the civil court system. Sometimes attempts are made by the involved lawyers to settle the claim out of court to the satisfaction of both parties. If this is not possible, the claim is taken to court for a trial and the judge or jury must decide if there is any validity to the claim.

LAWYER HELPLINE: ☎ 855 804 7142