Can A Motorist Be Found Liable for Injuries if There Was No Collision?
You’re out riding your motorcycle on a beautiful spring day in New Jersey. Another motorist makes an illegal turn in front of you, veers into your lane, or fails to stop at a light or traffic signal. You take evasive action, avoiding a collision, but you lose control of your bike and crash, suffering significant injury. There was no collision and the other motorist wasn’t hurt at all. Can you still bring a lawsuit to recover for all your losses, even if there wasn’t any contact?
Your Rights in a “No Contact” Crash
There is no requirement that there be any contact between two vehicles for an injured party to recover compensation for any losses. As a general rule, any legal claim you have will be based on a theory of negligence. That requires that you show:
- The defendant (the person from whom you seek damages) failed to act as a reasonable person would
- The defendant’s failure to act reasonably (also known as “breach of the duty of reasonable care) caused an accident
- You suffered actual losses as a result of the accident
To prove that the defendant breached the duty of reasonable care, you must only show that the behavior or actions of the defendant did not rise to the level of care generally expected in society. There’s no specific benchmark to establish this—whether or not the actions were reasonable will be determined by the jury.
The law does not require that the breach of duty cause a collision, but only an accident. To establish cause, you must prove first that the accident (loss of control of the bike) would not have happened if the defendant had acted reasonably. You must also show that your loss of control of the bike (or any accident that occurred) was reasonably foreseeable as a consequence of the failure to exercise reasonable care.
Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC
Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment to discuss your personal injury claim. Evening and weekend consultations are available upon request. We can come to your home or the hospital to meet with you, if necessary.
