In order to determine who is responsible in a personal injury case, you must understand the nuances of liability.

In simple terms, liability means figuring out who was responsible for the accident, or where fault for the accident lies. Liability seeks to determine the parcentage of fault attributable to each party in an accident. A party's liability percentage is an important factor in determining how much they'll have to pay in personal injury damages.

Determining liability is not always a complex task, but at times it requires specialized knowledge.

Here's how it works:

In just about every accident, someone was negligent. The party that was most negligent is deemed responsible to pay damages to the injured party.

Therefore knowing precisely what happened at the accident scene is crucial. Finding  witnesses to verify your account can be crucial to establishing the other party's liability.

If you know the cause of the accident, then you will know who is liable.

Some general examples of liability include:

-If a driver tries to make a quick left turn across the oncoming lane of a two-way street but gets hit by an oncoming car, the driver who tried the turn would be liable.

-If someone slips and falls because of a spill inside a store, when the business owner had more than ample time to clean it up, the business would be liable.

-If someone is burned as the result of using an toaster that malfunctioned during normal use, the manufacturer would be liable.

In cases like the ones we just mentioned, liability is pretty clear. Unfortunately things aren't always that simple.

Often in personal injury cases the victim is also partly at fault. Perhaps the second driver was on a cell phone. Maybe the person who slipped was running. Maybe the burn victim left the toaster on with bread in it for too long.

Even if both parties were partially at fault, the law in many states says the party who was more negligent pays the other a portion of the damages. In your personal injury claim, if the other party is able to prove you were also negligent, they'll pay less in damages.

Learn how to protect yourself when it comes to issues of liability. There are things you can do before and after an accident that may reduce the percentage of liability assigned to you and increase the liability of the other party. Visit the website below to learn more about getting a fair personal injury settlement.