Imagine another driver ran a red light and hit your car. You ended up in the hospital with a broken collarbone and other injuries that required weeks of physical therapy. Now the insurance adjuster is asking pointed questions about your actions before the crash. Were you wearing your seatbelt? Driving over the speed limit? Did you glance at your phone?
The insurance companies often look to push as much blame on you as possible to ease their financial responsibility. However, understand that your own mistakes do not automatically bar you from recovering compensation in Massachusetts.
Comparative fault allows partial recovery
Massachusetts follows a modified comparative negligence rule. This means you can still recover damages even if you share some blame for what happened, so long as you were not more than 50 percent at fault.
The caveat is that your compensation gets reduced by your percentage of fault. Depending on whether your case goes to court or you are negotiating a settlement, a judge, jury or insurance settlement will assign percentages based on each party’s actions. So, if you were 15 percent responsible for car acciddent and your total damages equal $100,000, you would receive $85,000.
Common driver actions that affect claims
Insurance companies scrutinize your behavior before and during the collision. They look for anything that might reduce what they owe you. Actions that may reduce your recovery include:
- Not wearing a seatbelt (affects specific injury damages only)
- Exceeding the speed limit
- Distracted driving
- Failing to signal a turn or lane change
The insurance company must prove your actions actually contributed to a car crash or worsened your injuries. They cannot simply point to a violation and assume it mattered.
Build your case around the other driver’s conduct
To maximize potential compensation in a car accident claim, you can work with an attorney and focus on documenting what the other driver did wrong. Police reports, traffic camera footage and witness testimonies all help establish who caused the collision. The stronger the evidence of the other driver’s negligence, the less impact your own mistakes will have on your final recovery.
Imperfect driving does not equal no compensation. Massachusetts law recognizes that you deserve accountability from those who harm you, even if you were not driving perfectly yourself.
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