Personal Injury claims that arise from rear-end auto accidents in Florida fall under a theory of negligence. In order to prove negligence, a claimant, the person bringing the lawsuit, must prove all the elements needed to show that a person was negligent. One of the elements that must be shown in order to prove that a person was negligent is that the accused person’s actions were the Causation of the claimant’s injuries.
HOW TO PROVE CAUSATION
If you have ever suffered an injury where you needed to file a personal injury claim, you may have found yourself hearing the legal term “causation”. This element of negligence differs from the elements used to demonstrate that a person is responsible, or liable, for the accident and your injuries. In Florida rear-end collisions, it is the person who is bringing the claim responsibility to show that the injury that was received, directly resulted from the accident itself.
This can sometimes be more difficult to prove than proving that a person is responsible for creating the accident. While there may be sufficient evidence showing a person had a duty of care owed, and they breached that duty, there must be additional evidence to indicate that the sustained injury came as a result of being impacted.
It is often a simple task to show that a driver was driving in a negligent manner by witness accounts of the driver failing to yield, not stopping at a stop sign, or driving at a high rate of speed. In rear-end auto accidents, injuries that occur are frequently the same injuries that are received from other similar collisions. What an attorney will argue in opposition of there being actual causation is that the collision that took place could not have created the injury claimed by the plaintiff.
How attorneys, who fight for plaintiffs, generally approach this issue is by providing expert testimony as to the type of accident, compiled with the force of the impact, is a way that a person could be injured in the way that they were. A tool used to show the amount of force that a rear-end auto accident can produce is the amount of property damage caused to the injured person’s vehicle. This can be favorable to a plaintiff’s case if the damage to their vehicle is substantial.
REAR-END CAUSATION
If a person is involved in a rear-end collision, it is often the case that they will suffer sometime of whiplash injury to the spine. In order for a plaintiff to demonstrate that their alleged whiplash injury came from the rear-end impact, medical documentation may be provided to show existing spinal injury. On the flip side of the coin, having no previous medical treatment of the claimed area of injury can serve to rebut any allegations by a defense attorney that the injury was suffered previously. Medical documentation is often the evidence used to prove causation of an injury due to a rear-end auto accident.
Causation of an injury can be extremely difficult to prove. This can be especially true in cases of a rear-end auto accident. Legal counsel is always the best way to make sure all elements of negligence are proven to satisfaction. Contact our Fort Lauderdale office today to speak to an attorney at no charge if you still have questions and/or concerns.