Speeding is a huge issue across the country, so it’s no surprise that basically everyone does it. But what happens if you were speeding at the exact moment that someone hit you? Does that mean that you’re at fault in any way? Is it possible that you won’t get compensation because you are doing what is widely accepted as normal?
It is possible the fact you were speeding could impact your claim in some way. What you’ll need to do is speak with a Henderson, Nevada car accident lawyer to determine if you’ll still have access to compensation. When it comes to getting compensation, things are not always cut-and-dry. In fact, you will likely have to sort through many meticulous details with your insurance provider before settlement negotiations even begin.
Percentage of Fault
In Nevada, the law lays out a contributory negligence platform for resolving insurance claims. As the victim, you usually shouldn’t have anything to worry about. But if you know that there’s a possibility of contributing factors, you’ll want to address them directly and quickly.
Essentially, what happens in fault contribution is the insurance providers involved will assess the damage, determine fault, and assign each driver a percentage of fault. The liability is spread out over what the insurance providers determined to be proportional to each person’s actions.
For example, if you were rear-ended, then it’s likely that you would have a very small fault percentage even if you were speeding. The fact that you were speeding and still got rear-ended would also bring up that the other driver was clearly speeding more aggressively than you.
However, if you were speeding and got into an accident with someone improperly yielding at an intersection, the speed may play a greater role. The entire concept of contributory negligence is just to establish who is most at fault, and then the person at lesser fault and may experience a negative impact on their compensation proportional to their fault percentage.
Nevada and County Regulations
Nevada has an overarching speed rule, which simply states that drivers must use reasonable and proper caution regarding traffic, road conditions, and the immediate environment. Basically, if the rate of speed is determined to be a danger of life, limb, or property, then it’s likely that it would impact the insurance claim. However, this is a common argument element in car accident claims that involve speeding.
However, there’s an additional regulation that declares all of Nevada speed limits, including County set speed limits, as absolute. That means that if you drive even one mile per hour over the speed limit, you can receive a ticket, and it can negatively impact a claim.
Speeding Stats and Insight
Everyone knows speeding causes accidents, but the National Highway Transportation Safety Association is working to increase awareness of all elements of speeding. Now initially, the most recent stats look good. The NHTSA shows that speeding-related deaths dropped by about 6% from 2017 to 2018.
The drop in speeding-related fatalities is a good sign, but it’s largely due to different initiatives to change or lower speed limits across the nation. Many counties and states have also implemented more serious consequences for speeders.
The underlying causes of speeding almost can’t be changed, and that means that speeding will always be a present factor in Nevada Traffic. The most common reasons for speeding include running late, disregard for other drivers, disregard for the law, traffic congestion frustrations, and anonymity. As long as these factors are present, drivers will always feel the need to speed, and it may not even be intentional.
Speed is often a substantial factor in the injuries sustained during a crash. That might be your biggest obstacle in obtaining compensation if you were speeding. The at-fault driver’s insurance provider may argue that your speeding directly contributed to your injuries, and their driver shouldn’t be held responsible.
Henderson Car Accident Lawyers — The Resource You Need
In Henderson, there is no shortage of car accidents. There is no way to prevent all accidents, and while everyone should be conscientious of their speed, many drivers don’t realize they were speeding until an accident happens. What you may need to fight for full or at least fair compensation is the help of a Henderson car accident attorney.
At the Christian Morris Trial Attorneys Law Offices, we take special care to help the victims in the Henderson community. We understand that many people take extra care to drive as safely as possible, and minor elements such as speeding by a few miles per hour should not severely impact your compensation options.
