While you might not think about it too often, there are a lot of things that put you at risk for personal injury lawsuits. The key to making sure you aren’t the victim of one of these lawsuits is understanding how personal injury claims work and actively working to keep yourself out of those situations. Here’s everything you need to know.
Understanding Legal Duties
The first thing you need to understand when it comes to personal injury claims is that you have certain legal duties in any situation. If you own a dog, it’s your legal duty to make sure your dog is on a leash or in a fenced yard at all times. If you own property, it’s your duty to make sure there are no significant hazards on your property. These legal duties vary a lot depending on the particular situation and the state you live in, but the bottom line is that legal duties are a large basis for personal injury claims.
No matter what situation you’re in, it’s important that you understand your legal duties so you can make sure you’re satisfying them.
Defining Negligence
Another important part of personal injury claims is negligence. Determining negligence is often the defining factor in a personal injury case. The first step in proving negligence is proving that the negligent party had certain legal duties that they failed to fulfill. If a dog owner opened their front door and let their dog outside to roam free, they were being negligent. If a homeowner saw something dangerous on their property and failed to take care of it, they may be found negligent as well. Ultimately, negligence depends on what the legal duties of both parties are and how each party succeeded or failed in doing those duties.
For more information about how negligence is determined, contact a personal injury lawyer.
Protecting Yourself
Now that you understand how personal injury claims work, you can focus on protecting yourself from being the victim of one of these claims. The first thing you need to do is figure out what your legal duties are based on what you do in your daily life. If you own a dog, it’s your legal duty to make sure you have control of your dog at all times so it doesn’t bite anybody. You also need to make sure your property is free of hazards to visitors and passersby. Other common legal duties include your duty to drive safely at a reasonable speed and your duty to obey traffic signals as a pedestrian. Failure to satisfy any of your legal duties—especially when it results in injuries to others—is a quick way to land yourself in hot water legally.
Personal injury lawsuits shouldn’t be a problem if you’re a responsible citizen, but there are always exceptions to that. By understanding how personal injury claims work and what you can do to protect yourself, you can prevent yourself from winding up on the bad end of a personal injury lawsuit and being financially liable for the injuries of others.