According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), a quarter of all automobile collisions involve the use of cell phones.

If you are injured by a distracted driver, you may have a claim for compensation in a personal injury action against the distracted driver.

1. CARELESS DRIVING

a. Using a cell phone while operating an automobile may be used as evidence that a driver was distracted at the time of the crash.

It is virtually impossible to pay full attention to the roadway and one’s cell phone at the same time. It takes only a few seconds to cause a major collision.

Even IF the other driver was distracted, the law in MD, DC, and VA require that you are negligent free to recover from injuries sustained in a personal injury case. Further discussion on negligence is found in the paragraph below.

2. NEGLIGENT FREE

a. Contributory Negligence: in Maryland, DC, and Virginia the law requires that you must have been acting prudently at the time you were injured and that you did absolutely nothing wrong in order to recover money for your injury.

This is the law/doctrine of contributory negligence. If you were injured and you were at fault only 1% and the other person was at fault 99% you cannot be compensated for your injuries.

b. Comparative Negligence: In other states, the Court will weigh/balance the carelessness of the people involved and still award money if the other person was more careless and more at fault.

Maryland, DC, and Virginia will not “weigh and pay” but (again) require that you be totally fault free to recover money for your injuries.

You may contact us today at the Firm, LLC (703 227 7157 and/or mike@thefirmllc.org) to discuss your potential issue/claim.

If we believe we can assist you, we will set up a formal consultation with you to further discuss your matter.

You may view our informational videos, testimonials, and client reviews on our website, thefirmllc.org, and to see more videos select the Facebook tab.

Take Care!

Legal Disclaimer: The above information is created for general information purposes only. As such, the information and contents should not be deemed formal legal advice; nor does the information and contents create a lawyer/client relationship between any party and the editors/creators”. We encourage persons accessing the Newsletter to seek the advice of counsel to discuss their specific legal issues/situation.