At times a car accident can occur where more than one driver is to blame. When multiple drivers are driving too fast, are distracted or are under the influence, an accident may occur causing multiple injuries with multiple people found responsible.
A Maryland car accident over the weekend involved multiple vehicles, causing three wrongful deaths, where multiple drivers may be at fault. The accident occurred on a Sunday night in Aspen Hill when a Nissan Sentra making a left turn was struck by a southbound Volkswagen Passat and Chevy Camaro.
The Nissan was split in two pieces and ejected all four occupants. Two passengers in the Nissan were pronounced dead at the scene and the driver was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Three others were injured as a result of the accident, the driver of the Volkswagen and the driver of the Camaro, as well as the third passenger in the Nissan. One of those killed was a child in a safety seat that was strapped into the Nissan and found flipped upside down on the sidewalk with the child strapped in.
In such an instance, it is the responsibility of the court or jury to determine whether more than one driver was at fault how to split the blame between the drivers at fault. There are multiple theories of negligence used by the decision maker to determine percentage of fault when there are two or more parties at fault.
Maryland is one of only a few jurisdictions that apply contributory negligence. Contributory negligence means that if an injured party may not collect damages from a party with a majority of blame if the victim was even one percent to blame for the accident. Victims and their families should always know their legal rights when someone else is to blame for an accident.
Source: CBS DC, "Police identify 3 killed, 3 hurt in Aspen Hill crash," John Domen, June 9, 2012
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