Is the Person Who Broke the Law at Fault for an Accident?
One may think that if someone was involved in criminal activity, or, at least in conduct that violated a statue or ordinance, and that conduct played a part in injuring another person, the violator would be responsible for the injury.
Showing a violation of a statue is only half of the battle.
Certainly, proof of the violation can be presented and may be considered as some evidence of negligence. [e.g. a car accident in Baltimore caused by a driver who violated one of the ‘rules of the road’]. Seasoned Baltimore personal injury lawyers, representing the insurance industry, have successfully argued that unless the conduct that constituted the violation was also a negligent act that directly caused the injury, there is no responsibility.
By way of example only, assume someone runs a red light, travels 100 feet, turns right after properly signaling, and hits a car pulling out from a driveway. Did running the red light cause or contribute to the accident, or was the person pulling out from a driveway in front of the other driver the cause? Did running the red light play any part in the accident at all? The law calls this concept “proximate causation”. The nation’s largest insurance companies are massive, sophisticated and enormously profitable. GEICO, State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, and a host of others, employ some of the most skilled, experienced and aggressive personal injury lawyers in Maryland to defend claims against them in court. You need an equally effective advocate Attorney Eric T. Kirk on your side.
