Automobile negligence carries significant consequences for many of its victims and their families. The California Office of Traffic Safety reported nearly 4,300 people died in 2021 in auto accidents. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, crashes in California carry an annual figure of almost $20 billion in economic costs, such as lost wages and medical expenses. Emotional distress and the lasting physical effects of burns, fractures, and other physical injuries create lasting or long-term pain and suffering for victims.

The great majority of car wrecks happen thanks to human error. Various sources put the percentage of automobile accidents caused by mistakes or negligence at any where from 93 percent to as much as 99 percent nationwide.

With these statistics in mind, automobile wrecks lead the way in generating personal injury claims and lawsuits. Obtaining a successful outcome (judgment or settlement) in car crash cases requires that you can prove liability of the party or parties with insurance or other resources to pay. These include both driver and owner of the at-fault vehicle. Below, we explain the reasons you can hold a party liable for the victim's claim and how to prove that liability.

The Grounds for Liability

Negligent driving involves a driver's violation of the “rules of the road” and laws on operation of the vehicle. Drivers are negligent in the following ways:

• Run stop lights or stop signs: The Insurance Information Institute reports that, in 2021, drivers who ran red lights caused 127,000 injuries and 1,109 deaths. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and those in vehicles other than the one running the light constituted 50 percent of those fatalities. According to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, you will find half of fatal or injury-producing crashes at intersections. This is a consequence of drivers' not obeying red lights or stop signs.

• Exceed the speed limit or exceeding safe speed: In 2023, unsafe speed accounted for nearly 47 percent of automobile crashes.

• Fail to keep a proper lookout for vehicles, pedestrians, or other conditions:

• Do not reduce speed to avoid crash

• Do not use turn signals when turning or changing lanes

• Operate the vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs: The California Office of Traffic Safety reports that nearly 53 percent of traffic fatalities in 2021 involved drivers testing positive for drugs. A reported 1,370 people in California died from alcohol-related crashes.

• Use smartphones or other devices while driving: According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, distracted driving claimed 140 lives in 2021 in California. The California Highway Patrol cited 57,446 motorists for violations of cell phone use while driving from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022.

• Fail to stay in a lane of travel: A reported 11,326 crashes (nearly one out of every five) in 2023 resulted from “improper turning.”

When the Owner Didn't Drive the Car:

The Borrowing Driver

If a car owner lends a vehicle to a driver who negligently causes a wreck, the face liability for the damages, thanks to California Vehicle Code Section 17150. This applies whether the owner expressly or impliedly (that is, taking into account actions and circumstances) gave permission for the at-fault driver to have the car.

Relationships between the owner and driver also afford evidence of implied permission. These include spouses or those romantically involved or sharing the same household, or a parent-child.

You might also show implied permission, for example, by:

• The owner's giving keys to the driver

• The owner's allowing the driver to have the keys on a regular basis

• The owner's keeping the keys in a place readily accessible to members of the household, such as a dining room table or key ring in the kitchen

• The driver's repeated use with knowledge of the owner and without protest or prohibition from the owner

• The owner's requesting the driver to retrieve something from a store or restaurant

• The driver's performing an errand for the household or benefit of the vehicle owner

Vehicle owners face liability under the “permissive use” statute only up to $15,000 per person injured or killed or $30,000 per accident for bodily injury or death.

The Employer-Employee Relationship

In California, an employer faces vicarious liability when the employee -- acting in the course and scope of employment -- injures someone due to negligent driving. This can happen even if the employee drives a personal vehicle. If you have a case whether the employee wrecks in a personal vehicle, you will need to have a job description, job qualifications and requirements, and policy manuals. Employers may face liability if the at-fault employee:

• Was performing job duties while driving or drove to benefit the employer; or

• Was required to have a personal car as part of the job

The limits in California Vehicle Code Section 17151 do not apply if the owner of the vehicle employed the at-fault driver.

Negligent Entrustment

Under a negligent entrustment theory, the owner's responsibility for damages is not limited to the amount of car insurance. Unlike liability based on permissive use, liability for negligent entrustment arises from the failure of the owner to exercise reasonable care in allowing the at-fault driver to operate the vehicle. You prove that the owner negligently allowed an incompetent driver to operate the vehicle at the time of the crash.

You might be able to establish negligent entrustment from the fact that the driver did not have a license if the owner knew or should have known the driver did not have a license. By California Vehicle Code Section 14604, owners must make a “reasonable inquiry” into whether the driver has a valid license before allowing the driver to operate the vehicle. Note that the statute does not require the owner to contact the California Division of Motor Vehicles to ask about the driver's license status. However, you might have evidence of the owner's lack of diligent inquiry with circumstances, such as:

• The owner does not ask the driver if the driver has a license

• An employer does not obtain a driving record for commercial drivers

The owner's lack of care in vetting the driver can come from knowledge that the driver had a revoked or suspended license.

In a negligent entrustment case, the owner does not enjoy the liability cap of $15,000.00 per person or $30,000.00 per accident. The injured party may reach other insurance or even non-exempt property of the car owner to satisfy the judgment or settlement.

Proving the Driver's Negligence:

By whatever theory you pursue the driver, owner, or employer, an automobile wreck case is a negligence case. As explained on our California Car Accident Lawyer page, you must first prove that the driver acted carelessly.

The Accident Reports:

You can’t use an accident report itself as evidence in court in California. Yet, the report contains vital information to help prove liability and pursue compensation for injuries. You will find items such as:

• Identity of the owner of the vehicles involved

• Name of insurance companies on the vehicle

• Driver, passenger, and witness names

• Date and time

• Extent of property damage or injuries

• Type of crash

• Whether the officer took or obtained photographs

• A drawing of what happened

Although the report is not admissible, personal injury lawyers may use it during pretrial discovery, especially in depositions of the other driver. In a deposition, attorneys ask questions of parties and witnesses which are to be answered under oath.

Take or Obtain Images:

Photographs and videos often speak powerfully as to how the wreck happened and the road and weather conditions existing at the time. For example, rear-end damage to one of the vehicles suggests the wreck occurred because a driver followed too closely or failed to keep watch for the vehicle in front. Wet roads or darkness may support an argument that the at-fault driver went to fast for the conditions. Footage from nearby security or other cameras may resolve disputes concerning who had the green light, vehicle movements, or other matters concerning the cause of the accident.

Take or find from others photographs and video of:

• The vehicles, including the positions, deployed airbags, and leaking fluids

• The road, including the presence of rain, ice, tire or skid marks,

• Traffic signs, such as speed limit, stop, yield, slippery road, and merging traffic

• The sky

• Nearby buildings

• Statements and actions by the other driver, particularly video

Witnesses

Personal injury victims should, if physically able, get the names, phone numbers, and addresses of witnesses. These may include bystanders, passengers of the vehicles involved, pedestrians, and passengers and drivers of vehicles not involved in the crash. From these witnesses may come evidence of the operation of the vehicles involved and statements by the other driver after the crash. Some statements by the at-fault driver made at the scene of the crash might constitute at least evidentiary admissions or contradict later testimony.