What If I Was Injured by a Distracted Driver?

Distracted driving is against the law in Georgia, which has had a hands-free law in place since 2018. This law makes it illegal to use a cell phone in any way in your hand or supported by your body while you’re behind the wheel of a car: even if stopped at a light. If someone was distracted by their phone and caused an accident, talk to a personal injury lawyer in Augusta, GA about your rights and how to prosecute them under Georgia law.

To get compensation from someone, you have to show that they are liable for what happened to you. Liability is determined by showing negligence. Negligence happens when someone has a duty of care towards you and fails in that duty.

Drivers in Georgia are forbidden to drive distracted, and while this particularly applies to cell phone use, it can also apply to other things, like putting on makeup or eating while driving. Any driver who breaks a road rule, including driving distracted, has breached the duty of care that they owe to all other road users and has acted negligently.

However there is nuance to this. For one thing, George has a comparative fault rule that acknowledges that more than one person can be negligent in a given situation and fault should be shared. You can only collect from the other driver if you were less than 50% at fault for the accident. So, for example, if you turn out into a road and fail to yield as required, you are still going to be held responsible, even if the driver coming down the road who hit you was distracted by their phone.

Proving Negligence With a Personal Injury Lawyer

The best thing to do in this situation is to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible. Your lawyer can help you build a case to show the negligence of the other driver and to make sure that you are not given any more fault than you actually deserve. The amount of fault that you are assigned will make a huge difference to your case, since your compensation will be reduced by the same percentage as your fault: and if you are 50% or more at fault, you can collect nothing at all.

Insurance companies are very aware of the effect of fault and will do everything they can to blame you for as much as they can. Even a few percentage points of fault that can be transferred to you could mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars that they don’t have to pay. A lawyer knows about these tactics and how to negotiate hard against them. Your lawyer will go to bat for you and find and use the evidence needed to prove the negligence of the distracted driver.

For help with your distracted driving injury case, contact Davis, Chapman, & Wilder in Augusta, GA today for a consultation.

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