Two People Die in Baker County, Florida Auto Accident
Two people died in a car crash that occurred in Baker County, Florida (which is about an hour west of Jacksonville, Florida). A vehicle driven by Larry Jackson apparently swerved to pass a slower vehicle on I-10 near Macclenny, Florida when it struck another vehicle, lost control and then overturned according to an article on News4jax.com. Mr. Jackson and the passenger in his vehicle died in the crash.
This kind of accident illustrates a couple of points in a personal injury or wrongful death case. In any such case, it is important to determine who is at fault for the crash. In other words, whose negligent driving caused or contributed to the crash? The answer to that question is not always clear and it is not always just one person. Fault for an accident can be split between two or more parties on a percentage basis. For instance, in a case where a driver loses control of his/her vehicle, that driver is often 100% liable for the crash. However, if the driver loses control of the vehicle because another vehicle is driving too slow on the highway, or the other vehicle is driving without lights on at night or another vehicle switches lanes without looking, fault for the crash may be distributed between the two drivers (i.e. 50% - 50% or 75% - 25%) or shifted completely to another driver. These fault percentage issues can be negotiated between the lawyers for the parties or determined by a jury in a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. Whatever the the ultimate fault percentages are determined to be, that party is only responsible for paying for that percentage of the ultimate damages.
