So, you’ve been in an accident and you were found partially at fault in the accident. Can you still sue and receive damages (money)? Possibly. Since different states have different laws on this subject, it depends first and foremost where you live.
States in the U.S. use one of a few different legal principals to determine if a person can still sue and recover money if they were partially at fault in an accident:
- Pure Contributory Negligence
- Pure Comparative Fault
- Modified Comparative Fault
- Gross Negligence Comparative Fault
Pure Contributory Negligence
Pure Contributory Negligence is a legal principle that essentially means that if a person contributes to their own injuries by acting negligently, they may be barred from recovering damages from the other party. This means that if a person is found to be even 1% at fault for an accident, they cannot recover any damages from the other party. Kinda sucks, right? Someone else could be 99% at fault…and you still wouldn’t be allowed to recover a penny. States or jurisdictions that use pure contributory negligence include:
- Alabama
- Maryland
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- District of Columbia
Pure Comparative Fault
This is a legal principle that allows recovery of damages, but reduces the amount of damages recoverable based on the extent of the person’s own negligence. This means that even if a person is found to be completely responsible for causing the accident, they can still recover damages from the other party, but the amount of damages will be reduced by the percentage of their own negligence. States that use pure comparative fault include:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Mexico
- New York
- Rhode Island
- Washington
Modified Comparative Fault
This is a legal principle that is a variation of the pure comparative fault principle, and it’s the one that more states in the U.S. use than any of the other three. It is also known as “50% bar rule” or “51% bar rule”. It means that if the injured party is found to be more than 50% responsible for the accident, they are barred from recovering damages. If the injured party is found to be 50% or less responsible, they can recover damages, but the amount will be reduced in proportion to their degree of fault. Sounds fair, right? These states use modified comparative:
- Arkansas (50%)
- Colorado (50%)
- Georgia (50%)
- Idaho (50%)
- Kansas (50%)
- Maine (50%)
- Nebraska (50%)
- North Dakota (50%)
- Tennessee (50%)
- Utah (50%)
- Connecticut (51%)
- Delaware (51%)
- Hawaii (51%)
- Illinois (51%)
- Indiana (51%)
- Iowa (51%)
- Massachusetts (51%)
- Michigan (51%)
- Minnesota (51%)
- Montana (51%)
- Nevada (51%)
- New Hampshire (51%)
- New Jersey (51%)
- Ohio (51%)
- Oklahoma (51%)
- Oregon (51%)
- Pennsylvania (51%)
- South Carolina (51%)
- Texas (51%)
- Vermont (51%)
- West Virginia (51%)
- Wisconsin (51%)
- Wyoming (51%)
Gross Negligence Comparative Fault
This is a legal principle that allows recovery of damages, but reduces the amount of damages recoverable based on the extent of the person’s own negligence, but also recognizes that there are some actions that are so reckless or careless that they should be treated differently from normal negligence. This means that if a person is found to be guilty of gross negligence, a higher degree of fault than regular negligence, the recovery of damages will be reduced in proportion to the degree of fault, but may also lead to harsher penalties for the guilty party.
South Dakota is the only one that uses gross negligence.