A friend of mine ran a red light five years ago causing an accident. My friend's insurance paid for all the damages and also covered all the medical bills of the other party right away. Now, five years later, they are trying to sue my friend for negligence. Can my friend be found guilty of negligence?
J K
Yes. The victims are suing in civil court as opposed to the state filing charges in criminal court. My guess, they are after monetary damages so while your friend probably won't go to jail, she might have to pay a hefty settlement.
She needs to get a lawyer.
kleighs mommy
yes he can and will be. he did a very irresponsible thing
learn to pay attention a slow down
kyian43
In many jurisdictions there are laws that prevent bringing such suits after a year, or three years, or whatever. Memories fade, witnesses die or move, and the facts of the case cannot be easily proved. Even if the law allows the suit, if these factors obtain, it may be dismissed.
The fact that the insurance company paid before may bar further recovery, and the insurance company may have a duty to further represent your friend.
joe.finkle
Your friend will need to get a lawyer and ask these questions to the lawyer. Anything I say should not be considered legal advice, as I am not a lawyer yet.
However, in general, regulatory violations are considered negligence per se. ("per se" essentially means "in itself". This is negligence by law and you can't argue it isn't) Of course, the law is never that simlpe. It's not automatically negligence if the regulatory violation was not designed to prevent the kind of harm caused. That's probably not going to help in this case, though.
Also, in most states (but not everywhere), just because you plead guilty to the regulatory violation doesn't automatically mean you can't still argue some defense in the civil case where the potential penalty is greater. Perhaps the light was hidden or something. Again, the odds of this helping aren't great, and even if you win that argument, it doesn't automatically mean you win the case, it just means the other side doesn't automatically win either.
Then there's the issue of damages and what they may be trying to recover if they already got their medical bills paid for. There are other kinds of damages they could get, but it usually isn't enough to be worth suing over.
Again, she'll need a lawyer. This kind of case can be potentially very expensive if she loses. Most likely, it will settle for a reasonable amount of money. That's what usually happens, but it depends on the details and varies widely. She should call the state bar association for a referral to a reputable personal injury defense lawyer. That's who will give her legal advice, not people you find on Yahoo Answers, and not me.
EDIT: By the way, in many states, the statute of limitations for negligence is 6 years, but it is different in different states. Her lawyer will investigate this and if the case is barred by the statute of limitations, it should be pretty easy to get the case dismissed.
Also, the insurance company may or may not pay for the lawyer, she should call them too and see.
Orignal From: Is running a red light negligence?
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