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In accident compensation claims, there is always the question of who is liable for the accident. To answer this question, an accident claims solicitor will aim to find out the specifics of how the accident occurred and if a duty of care was breached.

Duty of care for road users

When it comes to duty of care on Irish roads, the Roads Act 1993 applies to all road users, whether they are drivers, pedestrians, cyclists or passengers.

Section 67 of the Roads Act 1993 states that:

It shall be the duty of a person using a public road to take all reasonable measures to avoid

• injury to himself or to any other person using the public road
• damage to property owned or used by him or by any other person using the public road.

In general, for a personal injury claim to be viable, there are a few conditions that must be met:

• Duty of Care – there was an obligation to avoid injuring somebody else or putting them in a dangerous situation that could cause them harm.
• Breach of duty of care – a person failed to meet their duty of care and caused an accident and injury to another person. This is also referred to as negligence.
• Causation – this negligence was the cause of the accident that resulted in your injuries.
• Damages – damages, such as physical and psychological injuries were suffered as a result of the accident.

Who is liable if I am rear ended in traffic?

Here are a few scenarios that could lead to a rear-end traffic collision:

• Your car is stationary, waiting at a junction or traffic lights. The driver of the vehicle behind you is not paying attention and collides with your car. In this case, the driver of the car behind would most likely be found to be negligent and liable for the accident.

• However, if you stopped your car unexpectedly, for example, if you were turning, or parking, but did not indicate, or if your brake lights were not working, and you are subsequently rear-ended, you may be found to be liable, or partly liable for the accident. The driver of the vehicle behind could also be responsible if they did not leave sufficient stopping distance.

• If the reason for your unexpected braking is because a person, animal or unexpected object appears suddenly in front of your car, then you may not be able to avoid the collision, so there may not have been any negligence on your part.

• If your car is rear-ended, causing you to subsequently collide with the vehicle in front of you, would you also be found to be liable? Again, this will depend on the circumstances of how the accident happened, if anything could have been done to prevent it or if your actions contributed to the collision. There may be a portion of liability attributed to one, some or all of the drivers in a multi-vehicle collision. This is where an experienced car accident claims solicitor can work with you to gather evidence and establish the facts of the case.

What if more than one person caused the accident?

As in the situations above, sometimes there may be more than one party responsible for causing an accident. There may have been a combination of circumstances that contributed to the collision or to the injuries caused. This is called contributory negligence.

When multiple party negligence occurs, liability for an accident’s cause is divided among the different people involved on a percentage basis. Each party is then accountable to pay a percentage of the compensation settlement.

For example, if you were injured in a road accident but you were not wearing a seatbelt, or if your actions contributed to the accident, you may be partly responsible for the injuries you suffered. If, for example, this was found to be 15% of liability, the court would award 85% of the compensation that your injuries were valued at.

A specialised personal injury solicitor who is experienced in dealing with road accident claims will be best positioned to advise on whether you have a statable case or not. They will also be able to advise on combined liability.

What if the person who caused the accident disputes the claim?

It may happen that the person who is at fault denies responsibility for the accident. This is why it is so important to document exactly what happened and have as much evidence as possible to back up your version of events (such as photographs, insurance details of all vehicles impacted, weather conditions at the time of the accident etc.).

Witnesses can help provide supporting evidence of a collision, so where possible, try to get the contact details of anyone who may have seen the accident happen. Other drivers may have dashcam footage that could be useful.

CCTV footage can also help to demonstrate what caused the accident. It’s essential to request this as soon as possible as it may be deleted after a short period of time for GDPR reasons.

It is also advisable to have dashcams on both the front and rear of your vehicle as this will provide accurate evidence of the accident.

It’s important to note that if you are managing your own Injuries Board application, and the defending party does not agree with the assessment from the Injuries Board, you will need to pursue the case through the courts. If some time has passed since the accident, it can be more difficult to gather reliable evidence.

Whereas, if you work with a solicitor from the start of the claims process, they will ensure all evidence is compiled as early as possible, as part of your Injuries Board application. If the defending party does not agree with the assessment, your solicitor will have all the evidence ready for court proceedings, should it get to that stage.

If you have been injured in a rear-end collision, contact us and tell us about your case today.

Our experienced team can assess whether you have a viable claim and work closely with you to get the best possible outcome for your situation.