Hawaii Negligence Laws

Negligence is an important factor that our lawyers at Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina & Fairbanks, Attorneys at Law evaluate when handling an accident case. We thoroughly investigate and review the circumstances involved with your accident when determining your ability to recover compensation.

Why negligence is a pivotal factor in injury cases

Negligence is a legal term that refers to a party’s failure to exercise reasonable care and the resulting harm. An example of negligence is a driver’s failure to drive safely or obey traffic laws. Individuals who drive irresponsibly, tailgate, take risks when changing lanes or drive while intoxicated are liable when their actions result in injury.

In a personal injury case, the court evaluates the degree of negligence for all parties involved ― which includes whether the injured party bringing the lawsuit had any negligence. The court can view talking on a cell phone as contributing accident factors and assign you a percentage of fault. As long your fault does not exceed 50 percent, you have the right to recover compensation. However, the court reduces your compensation by your percentage of negligence. For example, if you were talking on a cell phone, but the other driver ran a red light, the court might decide the extent of your injuries were partly due to talking on your cell phone. It may rule that 20 percent of the damages were your fault and 80 percent were the other driver’s fault. In this instance, if damages were $100,000, you could recover $80,000.

Types of negligence

In Hawaii, courts can also award punitive damages when defendants act with gross negligence. Courts instruct juries that gross negligence is conduct that is more extreme than ordinary negligence, and is an aggravated or magnified failure to use the kind of care a reasonable person would use to avoid injury or property damage. The severity of injury is another factor the courts consider and, in the most severe accident cases, wrongful death occurs.

Put your trust in a highly reputed Hawaii auto accident law firm

Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina & Fairbanks, Attorneys at Law offers a free consultation to discuss your injury case and how we can help you recover compensation. We take all personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you owe no fees unless we recover on your behalf. Please contact Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina & Fairbanks, Attorneys at Law to arrange a consultation.