Causation

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If you were injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and other losses. However, you will have the burden of proving that the defendant was negligent. 

Establishing negligence requires showing four legal elements by the preponderance of the evidence. Causation is one of these elements and often the most difficult one to prove. Here is what you need to know about proving causation in your personal injury claim. 

Legal Elements You Must Prove in a Personal Injury Case 

The four elements you must be able to show as part of your negligence claim include:

Duty of Care

You must show that the defendant owed you a duty of care. This duty may be due to a special relationship, such as a doctor-patient relationship. It could be written in law. Or, it could be a general standard for everyone to act carefully to avoid injuring others. 

Examples of common duties of care include:

• Motorists have a duty to follow traffic laws and avoid accidents. 
• Healthcare providers owe their patients a duty of care to provide them with the same level of care that other healthcare providers with similar training and background would provide under similar circumstances.
• Property owners owe a duty to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition to avoid injuring visitors. 

An experienced personal injury lawyer can conduct legal research to determine the duty of care that applies under the circumstances at hand. 

Breach of Duty 

A breach of duty occurs when the defendant violates their legal duty. Examples of these breaches could include:

• A motorist speeds and causes an accident.
• A trucking company hires an unqualified driver who causes a crash.
• A healthcare provider fails to diagnose their patient appropriately because they failed to order necessary tests.
• A property owner fails to maintain their property, leading to a visitor injuring themselves.

A breach of duty can be something the defendant did (running a red light) or didn’t do (failing to keep their premises safe). 

Causation

To recover compensation for your injuries, you must show that the defendant’s breach factually and legally caused the accident. This is known as the cause in fact and proximate cause, respectively. 

The cause in fact is the direct cause of the accident; the defendant’s conduct is what led to your injury. In other words, the injury would not have occurred but for the defendant’s act or omission. 

The proximate cause is the relation between an event and an injury. The question is whether the injury was foreseeable. The defendant must have acted in a way that caused foreseeable injuries to victims. 

Damages 

The final element you must prove is damages, which are the losses you incurred because of the accident, such as:

• Immediate medical treatment 
• Ongoing rehabilitation and therapy
• Future medical expenses 
• Lost wages
• Reduced earning capacity
• Property damage 
• Pain and suffering

An experienced attorney can help you gather the evidence necessary to establish these legal elements. 

Examples of Causation in Different Types of Personal Injury Cases

Here are a few examples of causation that could provide a basis for a personal injury claim:

Car Accidents

Car accidents are often caused by negligent motorists who:

• Speed
• Drink and drive
• Drive while distracted
• Run red lights or stop signs
• Disobey traffic laws

The key is connecting their traffic violation to the accident. 

Medical Malpractice

A healthcare provider may commit medical malpractice when they: 

• Fail to obtain adequate information about the patient’s symptoms or background
• Do not properly consider possible conditions that could be present based on symptoms
• Give a patient too much medication during a medical procedure
• Make a mistake during surgery

Expert witness testimony is usually necessary to establish the doctor’s negligent act is what caused the injury.

Slip & Fall

Slip and fall accidents are often due to hazardous conditions on the property, such as:

• Ice or snow that is not cleaned up
• Slippery floors
• Obstructed walkways
• Damaged flooring or stairs
• Inadequate lighting

Your lawyer can help gather evidence that the property owner knew of the hazardous condition or should have known about it but failed to take proper steps to correct it. 

Truck Accidents

Truck accidents can be complex because they can be caused by factors not present in other types of motor vehicle accidents, such as:

• Violating the hours of service rules 
• Failing to complete pre-trip inspections
• Not securing cargo properly onboard
• Hiring unqualified or unsafe drivers

An experienced truck accident lawyer can work with accident reconstruction specialists and other experts to help prove the connection between these violations and the accident. 

How To Prove Causation in a Personal Injury Case 

Proving causation often relies on securing compelling and reliable evidence that connects the breach of duty and the accident, such as:

• Accident reports
• Video footage from surveillance cameras, dash cams, and surveillance cameras
• Event data recorders
• Photos of the accident scene
• Business, personnel, and maintenance records
• Testimony from accident reconstruction experts

An experienced personal injury lawyer will know what evidence may be available in your case and how to preserve it.

Contact Our Seattle Personal Injury Lawyers for a Free Case Review

If you were injured in an accident, the legal team at Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers can help prove all the elements of your case, including causation. Call our Seattle car accident lawyers today at (206) 727 4000 for a free consultation.