An injury may do more than change your immediate plans. You may find yourself dealing with a lengthy recovery and the loss of income. A personal injury claim may help with bills, but only if you can prove someone else is responsible for the incident.

Negligence is the legal term for assigning blame and fault in a personal injury case. What does this mean, and how can you go about proving it? It may help to get a basic understanding of what the court may require during a personal injury action.

Proving negligence

The foundation of a personal injury claim is whether you can prove that the other party acted recklessly. This means you need to show that the at-fault driver either broke the law or behaved without regard to other people’s safety. Once you can establish negligence, your case proceeds.

Comparing fault

Perhaps the court decides that you and the person who hit you both acted negligently. In this case, the judge may compare the fault and determine who behaved more negligently. For example, you may have exceeded the speed limit, but the other driver failed to stop at a red light and slammed into you. Since the other driver was more negligent in running a stoplight, his or her negligence is higher.

A personal injury action may only move forward in situations where negligence exists. Understanding what it means and how to prove it may assist in you getting the compensation to help you get on the road to recovery.