If you have been involved in a car accident due to a driver on their cellphone, consult a qualified car accident attorney. Chattanooga car accidents involving cellphones claims can be difficult to handle on your own, but a knowledgeable lawyer can attempt to help you pursue the damages that you deserve. Reach out to an attorney today, and know that you are in capable hands.
How Cellphone Use Can Impact Fault
If a defendant was using their cellphone at the time of the accident, juries usually look at that person as someone not taking safety seriously. Juries are often much more willing to hold that person accountable during Chattanooga car accidents involving cellphones claims. They have little sympathy for people who are driving while using their cell phone and then run into another person. Often, it makes it easier for the plaintiff to win their case and to win a higher damages award.
Impact That a Plaintiff’s Phone Use Can Have on Their Claim
In the instance that the plaintiff was also using their cellphone before the accident, they could potentially be found at-fault too. Tennessee follows the rule of modified comparative fault. That means both parties in a collision can be partially at fault. The party who is less at fault can recover from the party who was more at fault. If one party was 50% at fault, they cannot recover anything. When it comes to both sides of a collision being on a cell phone, that factor goes into determining who was negligent and who was more negligent. It can be used against both sides at the same time.
If the plaintiff is using a cell phone at the time of the accident, it lends itself to the argument that the plaintiff is at fault for the accident. If it is an issue where both cars are moving, like one car is merging into another and the plaintiff was using their phone, it is easier for the defendant to argue the plaintiff was at fault, because the plaintiff was not paying close enough attention. However, if a plaintiff is sitting at a red light and gets rear-ended, being on the phone does not have any effect on that. It varies from situation to situation.
Evidence Needed in a Cellphone Accident Claim
There are all kinds of evidence that a person can get from cell phone usage for Chattanooga car accidents involving cellphones claims. One of the things that a person wants to get is their cell phone records. Often, cell phone records will tell if a person was on the phone or sent a text within a few seconds before the wreck happened. It does not tell if they were on Facebook, some other app, or on Internet Explorer on their phone.
Another piece of evidence is eyewitnesses, which are people who witnessed the accident or who witnessed the defendant driving down the road before the accident. An eyewitness will say, they were using their phone. They were looking down at their phone. Even though the cell phone records do not indicate that they were talking or texting on the phone, it may not have been a text or a call, it may have been an app or the internet. If an individual has been injured as a result of a negligent driver being on their cellphone, they should call an attorney that can help.
