Following a car accident, it is upon you, the plaintiff, to prove the other driver’s negligence was the cause of the accident, and thus, your injuries. You may feel ridiculous explaining the series of events to your Personal Injury Lawyer in Halifax because it all seems so obvious to you, but producing actual evidence can be difficult and complex.

The Burden of Proof

Since you are not automatically entitled to compensation, it is upon you to prove the defendant guilty of negligence. If you, and your lawyer, fail to prove that the defendant is likely to have been negligent in the eyes of the judge, your accusations will be dismissed, and you will receive no compensation.

What You Need To Prove The Defendant Guilty

Proving somebody guilty of careless, and/or reckless conduct, aka negligent behavior, can be achieved by gathering evidence for these four components:

1. Duty of Care: the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, or the general public.
2. Breach of Duty of Care: the defendant breached said duty of care through their actions.
3. Foresight: the defendant could have foreseen that their actions could lead to an accident.
4. Ultimate Causation: the defendant’s negligent actions ultimately caused the accident.

The combination of these four components will prove that the defendant knowingly engaged in negligent behavior which ultimately lead to the accident which left you, the plaintiff, injured. If sufficient evidence is gathered for each of these components, your personal injury case will have a good chance of being successful.

The Reasonable Person Standard

In order to prove the breach of the duty of care, the judge will utilize something called the “reasonable person standard”. This system is used by comparing the defendant’s behavior to that of a reasonable, average adult under equal circumstances. If the defendant’s actions are unjustifiable and obviously negligent, the defendant can be proven guilty of breaching their duty of care. However, it is not as easy as it sounds and you need to have the support of a good lawyer along with evidence and proofs that the defendant was at fault.

What It Takes To Prove Causation

Even if all three other components have been proven, it still takes the proving of causation for compensation to be awarded to the plaintiff. What this means is that you, the plaintiff, together with your lawyer, will need to prove that your injuries resulted directly from the defendant’s misconduct, aka their negligence.In the majority of cases, this is achieved by presenting testimony from your healthcare provider who links your injuries back to the accident.