If you are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, recklessness or intentionally-dangerous conduct, you likely have grounds upon which to file a personal injury lawsuit. The purpose of filing a lawsuit is to hold a responsible party accountable for their contribution to the harm you’ve suffered via economic and non-economic damages.
Yet, millions of Americans have a difficult time securing the damages that they’re rightfully owed because they are barred from seeking compensation due to the part they played in the wreck. This is because many states limit the ability of injury victims to seek compensation from other parties if they played any role whatsoever in their injuries. Thankfully, New Mexico is not one of those states.
The benefits of a pure contributory negligence approach
The State of New Mexico enforces a legal doctrine that is commonly referred to as pure comparative negligence. Essentially, this doctrine allows injury victims to seek compensation from other responsible parties proportional to the fault assigned to each party.
Say, for example, that you were involved in a crash with one other motorist. Upon investigation, it is revealed that the other driver was very drowsy at the time of the crash and they were operating a Ford outfitted with a faulty brake hose. As a result of a brake fluid leak, their vehicle couldn’t stop suddenly when you swerved out of your lane to avoid debris in the road.
You are both partially at fault for what happened. You are assigned 20% of the fault, the other driver is assigned 20% of the fault and Ford is assigned the remaining 60%. If your harm is valued at $100,000, you can pursue $20,000 from the other driver and $60,000 from Ford under the pure comparative negligence rule.
Exploring your legal options and the potential value of your case in New Mexico can help you to pursue any compensation that you are rightfully owed, even if you were partially to blame for your crash.