Understanding Nevada’s modified comparative negligence law

22.05.2024 - 12:02 / traveldailynews.com / Apollonas Kritikos

If you want to file a personal injury case in Nevada, it is crucial to understand how modified comparative negligence applies to you.

Like several other U.S. states, Nevada enforces fault laws and regulations for car accidents and other incidents resulting in personal injury cases.

Known as comparative negligence law, it essentially refers to the person or party responsible for an accident that injures someone else. In addition to these fault laws, Nevada relies on a key concept known as modified comparative negligence.

If you want to file a personal injury case in Nevada, it is crucial to understand how modified comparative negligence applies to you.

The foundation of modified comparative negligence
Comparative negligence allows accident victims to sue for damages, even if they are partly to blame for the accident. However, the percentage of blame they carry reduces the amount of compensation they get.

So, if you are in an accident and 30% to blame for it, you can still claim, but you will lose 30% of what you would have gotten. For example, if you claim $100,000, you will only receive $70,000 if your claim is successful.

Nevada added the 50% rule to the comparative negligence law, hence ‘modified’ comparative negligence. According to Nevada Revised Statutes Section 41.141, you can only recover damages if you are 50% or less at fault for the accident.

Essentially, this means that you can claim compensation if found to be 50% or less to blame for an accident. But your percentage of fault will still reduce your payout.

However, if you are more than 50% at fault for the accident, you cannot claim damages. This rule stands no matter the severity of a plaintiff’s injuries or how negligent the other party was.

Determining fault and assigning percentages after an accident
It is ultimately up to insurers or the court to determine fault after an accident. There are several ways to do this and assign blame percentages.

Factors include violation of traffic laws, such as if anyone disobeyed a traffic signal or speed limit. It also includes human action or error that led to an accident. Insurers will consider how much each party’s actions contributed to the accident.

Most of the time, the fault is assigned through witness statements, police reports, visible damage to vehicles, and photographs taken at the scene.

When considering comparative negligence, the following hypothetical scenario applies. A driver runs a red light and crashes into another car. The other driver was slightly over the speed limit when the crash happened.

The insurer or court may determine that Driver A was 70% at fault for the accident because they skipped a red light. The other driver would then be 30% at fault for driving too fast.

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