Being partially responsible for an accident does not mean you are barred from pursuing a personal injury claim. Rhode Island law allows injured people to recover compensation even when their own actions have partially contributed to an accident.
While sharing some of the fault does not prevent you from recovering damages in a personal injury claim, it can affect how much compensation you ultimately receive. The compensation available for your injuries is reduced by your share of the responsibility. Thus, insurance companies often seek to shift blame to accident victims to avoid liability and reduce payouts.
A Rhode Island personal injury lawyer can help you uncover how the law applies to your circumstances and protect your right to pursue compensation.
What Is Rhode Island's Comparative Negligence Law?
Rhode Island follows a pure comparative negligence system under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-20-4. The law applies to actions involving personal injuries, injuries resulting in death, and property damage. If the injured person was partially negligent, that negligence does not automatically bar recovery. Instead, the damages awarded are reduced in proportion to that person’s share of negligence.
Unlike states that prevent recovery once your responsibility reaches a certain percentage, Rhode Island has no cutoff. As long as you are not 100% responsible for your accident, you may still recover damages. Thus, whether you are 10%, 50%, 80%, or even 99% responsible, you can recover compensation. However, that compensation would decrease significantly as your percentage of responsibility increases.
How Does Comparative Negligence Affect Your Compensation?
Under Rhode Island negligence law, determining liability means not only establishing who was responsible but also how that responsibility should be apportioned. This calculation directly affects the value of a claim. For example, suppose an accident has caused $100,000 in damages, but you are 20% responsible. Your recovery would be reduced by 20%, allowing you to recover $80,000.
That makes every percentage point important. An insurance adjuster may allege that your actions contributed more heavily to an accident in an effort to reduce what the insurer pays. Even seemingly minor conduct can lead to contested fault.
A personal injury attorney can push back against such allegations by using objective evidence, such as photographs, surveillance footage, witness statements, vehicle data, medical records, and expert analysis.
How Comparative Negligence Applies to Different Types of Accidents
Comparative fault in Rhode Island applies to any type of accident in which more than one person’s conduct has contributed to the outcome. How that shared responsibility affects liability can look different depending on the circumstances.
Car Accidents
Suppose another driver runs a red light and T-bones your vehicle, but the insurer alleges you were traveling 10 mph over the speed limit. The adjuster assigns you 30% of the fault, which would reduce your damages from $100,000 to $70,000.
A Rhode Island car accident lawyer could review traffic-camera footage, witness accounts, vehicle damage, and event data recorder information to challenge that assessment. If the evidence instead establishes that the other driver was fully responsible, the comparative negligence reduction would no longer apply.
By the numbers:
- Total damages: $100,000
- Accepting the insurer’s 30% fault assessment: $70,000
- If an attorney establishes 0% fault: $100,000
Challenging the insurer’s assessment could therefore make a $30,000 difference in the available compensation.
Motorcycle Accidents
Imagine a passenger vehicle turns left across your motorcycle’s path while you are proceeding through a green light. The insurer claims you were accelerating aggressively or lane splitting and assigns you 40% of the fault. If you sustained $200,000 in damages, that assessment would reduce the amount you could recover to $120,000.
A motorcycle accident attorney in Rhode Island may use helmet-camera footage, skid marks, witness statements, vehicle damage, and expert analysis to challenge the insurer’s allegations regarding your speed or roadway position.
By the numbers:
- Total damages: $200,000
- Accepting the insurer’s 40% fault assessment: $120,000
- If an attorney establishes 0% fault: $200,000
Successfully challenging the insurer’s assessment could result in an additional $80,000 in compensation.
Bicycle Accidents
Consider a driver who turns across a bike lane and strikes a cyclist. The insurer alleges that the cyclist failed to signal or brake quickly enough and assigns the cyclist 25% of the fault. If the cyclist sustained $80,000 in damages, that assessment would reduce the potential recovery to $60,000.
A Rhode Island bicycle accident lawyer may use surveillance footage, witness accounts, roadway markings, and evidence of both parties’ movements to challenge whether the cyclist actually contributed to the collision.
By the numbers:
- Total damages: $80,000
- Accepting the insurer’s 25% fault assessment: $60,000
- If an attorney establishes 0% fault: $80,000
Reducing the cyclist’s assigned fault from 25% to 0% could result in $20,000 of additional compensation.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Suppose you slip on untreated ice in a commercial parking lot or on liquid that has spilled onto a store floor. The insurance adjuster claims that the hazard was open and obvious, and that you were distracted, assigning you 50% of the fault. If you sustained $60,000 in damages, accepting that assessment would leave you with only $30,000 in potential compensation.
A slip and fall lawyer may obtain surveillance footage, maintenance records, inspection logs, and witness testimony to challenge the adjuster’s allegations that you shared blame. If that evidence reduces your share of the fault to 10%, your recovery would be reduced by only 10%.
By the numbers:
- Total damages: $60,000
- Accepting the insurer’s 50% fault assessment: $30,000
- If an attorney reduces your fault to 10%: $54,000
That change in fault would allow for $24,000 in additional compensation.
Pedestrian Accidents
Imagine you are struck by a turning vehicle while crossing near an intersection. The insurer alleges that you crossed outside a marked crosswalk at an intersection and assigns you 20% of the fault. If you have sustained $150,000 in damages, that assessment would reduce your potential recovery to $120,000.
A pedestrian accident attorney in Rhode Island may use video footage, witness accounts, phone records when obtainable, and other evidence to reconstruct the moments before the collision. This evidence can challenge allegations about where you crossed and whether your actions contributed to the accident.
By the numbers:
- Total damages: $150,000
- Accepting the insurer’s 20% fault assessment: $120,000
- If an attorney establishes 0% fault: $150,000
Successfully challenging the assessment could lead to an additional $30,000 in compensation.
Sharing Fault Does Not Mean Giving Up Your Right to Compensation
Under Rhode Island’s pure comparative negligence law, sharing responsibility for an accident does not automatically bar you from recovering damages. However, shared blame can reduce the amount of compensation you recover. Thus, establishing the cause of the accident and accurately apportioning blame is key to recovering the full amount of compensation you deserve.
Rob Levine Law has spent more than 25 years advocating for injured people. We have helped more than 50,000 clients and recovered more than $2 billion in disability benefits and injury compensation. Our team takes an aggressive approach to disputing allegations of shared blame. When an insurer tries to unfairly shift blame for an accident, we’ll have your back.
We’re available 24/7. Call (888) 791-9135 or contact Rob Levine Law online today for a free consultation.
