O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 is the Georgia modified contributory negligence rule. It states that a plaintiff cannot receive compensation in a personal injury case if their contributory negligence equaled 50% or more. In other words, if you are at least half responsible for an accident, you can’t receive anything. Any percentage less than 50% results in reduced damages.
This law applies to wrongful death cases. If you lose a loved one in an accident, their contributory negligence can reduce the value of your claim. Consequently, a thorough investigation is necessary to find out what happened—and if your loved one contributed to the accident in any way.
As your Atlanta wrongful death lawyer, we want to know everything about how an accident unfolded. Unfortunately, your loved one is no longer with us to tell their side of the story. But we can put our investigatory hat on and uncover what really happened. Call us to immediately begin working on your case.
When Contributory Negligence Matters
In most situations, our clients are surviving spouses, children or parents who lost a family member in an accident. The person responsible likely survived the accident, whereas your loved one did not.
Consequently, it’s not a surprise if the defendant points the finger at your loved one and blames them for the accident. Most wrongful death cases stem from:
- Motor vehicle crashes (car, truck, motorcycle, and bicycle accidents)
- Pedestrian accidents
- Slip and falls or trip and falls
- Other premises liability claims (like dog attack, fires, or electrocution)
Suppose your spouse died in a motorcycle accident. The driver who hit him will claim your husband cut them off in traffic, leading to the wreck. If this is true, then your wrongful death case is worth a lot less. You might not even be able to sue if your spouse was 50% or more responsible for the collision.
The same is true if your child was fatally struck crossing a parking lot. The negligent driver might claim your child darted out in front of the car and is therefore primarily to blame for the tragedy.
As your attorney, we need to push back on these accusations. Instead, we need to show how your loved one’s contribution to the accident was minor or even non-existent.
How We Piece Together What Happened
Reconstructing an accident is a challenge. But it’s one of the most important jobs after a fatal accident. We want to know everything about what happened in the moments or hours leading up to a crash. When we have a firm handle on the facts, we can more powerfully advocate for our clients.
Some evidence we use includes:
- Any security camera footage. Did a motor vehicle collision happen right outside a gas station? If so, then the station probably has a security camera pointed at the road. Any slip and fall which happens in a store should also be captured by security footage. We want to get our hands on this video before it’s erased or lost.
- Witness testimony. Witnesses help us see the accident to determine fault. The police report might identify witnesses, and your lawyer can call them up to find out what they saw. If you were also involved in the accident, you might have spoken to witnesses.
- Physical evidence. The cars involved in an accident provide critical evidence of how they came together. Other evidence includes skid marks on the road, if your loved one died in a motor vehicle crash.
- Breath or urine tests. If the defendant did drugs or drank alcohol, then test results should show it. That type of evidence is helpful at putting the blame for the accident on the defendant.
- The defendant’s own statements. Sometimes defendants slip up and admit fault. For example, a driver could admit they were speeding in the seconds before they crashed into your spouse or child. We can use these statements in building a case against them.
- Cell phone records. We can help prove distracted driving by seeking access to the defendant’s phone records, which show when they were talking.
Call Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys. Evidence disappears quickly. You don’t want to wait too long, because it is harder to show with any certainty how the accident happened when years have passed.
Amplifying Your Compensation
Let’s say your loved one was 30% to blame for the accident. Your wrongful death compensation would be reduced by 30% as well. That takes a big bite, even though you will at least receive something.
We always try to amplify the amount of money our clients get to take home. You can request compensation for various damages as the surviving family member:
- Lost services your loved one provided;
- Lost income and financial support;
- Funeral and burial expenses;
- Medical bills;
- Loss of personal relationship.
We can increase the amount you receive by fully documenting all economic and noneconomic losses. For example, we gather financial records to establish how much the decedent made and would likely have made if they lived. We can also document the full cost of medical care.
Our detailed approach helps maximize the compensation our clients take home—even if your loved one was partially at fault.
Schedule Your Consultation with Our Law Firm Today
A tragic accident leaves many family members feeling lost and confused. Bringing a wrongful death lawsuit might be the last thing on your mind in the ensuing months. Nonetheless, critical deadlines apply. In most cases, you get only two years from the day of the death to file a lawsuit. If you go over this deadline, then you lose critical legal rights.
Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys has won many wrongful death cases for grieving family members. We can listen to what you know about the fatal accident, if anything. Then we can provide an overview of the strengths of your case and devise a strategy to hold the defendant accountable. Call us to schedule a time to talk, (404) 529-3476.