When a car accident occurs, the parties involved want to know who is going to pay for the damages. In California, the answer is whatever party causes the accident. Of course, the next question is what exactly it means to cause an accident. The legal standard is negligence. Fatigued driving may be one kind of legal negligence.
Fatigued driving as car accident negligence
California law gives a car accident victim the right to claim compensation. Not just anyone hurt in a car accident is a victim, however. The person at fault for an accident is the person who causes the accident through negligent actions, which the law defines as a lack of reasonable care.
When fatigue contributes to a lack of reasonable care, fatigue can be legal negligence. Even though people have busy lives, they still have a legal duty to be careful on the roads. Drivers have an obligation to take to the roads only when they’re in a condition to do so safely. When car accidents occur because of fatigued driving, the responsible driver may be at fault for the accident.
Proving fatigued driving after a car accident
Even if a driver is suspected of fatigued driving, the accident victim has to show what the other driver’s actions were in causing the accident. They have to gather and present evidence of fatigued driving and how it contributed to the accident. Fatigued driving may be used to show both negligence and comparative negligence.
To investigate the case, the victim and their lawyer may conduct a deposition of the other driver to ask them to testify to their activities in the hours and days before the accident. Gathering work records, compiling documents showing activities before the accident and interviewing people close to the driver can all be a part of showing that fatigue contributed to the car accident.
Winning car accident compensation based on fatigue
Fatigue is one kind of legal negligence. To properly evaluate legal rights after an accident, it’s important to consider fatigue along with all of the other relevant aspects. A victim of a motor vehicle accident may deserve financial compensation based on driver fatigue or another kind of legal negligence.
