You were just in a car accident. You might have been able to avoid it, but something went wrong with your vehicle, and you couldn’t stop or move out of the way. Who’s to blame?
Well, in short, you are. Kentucky law requires motorists to ensure that their vehicles are in good working order before they drive them on the road. That means you, faulty vehicle owner, have a duty to make sure the important parts of the car work before you drive it. Headlights have to light, brakes have to stop, steering has to work, etc. before you drive. There are actually specific laws passed by the legislature that enumerate all of the things you have to do, but the failure to do so usually only penalizes you if you a) get in a wreck and those things don’t work, or b) if you get pulled over for a traffic violation and a police officer cites you for it.
You may be able to pass the blame for the vehicle’s mechanical failure on to a third party if you hired a competent person to fix or maintain your car or truck and they did a bad job. Mechanics owe their customers a duty of competent workmanship, so if you thought you had your brakes fixed but then they failed as you slid into the back of the car in front of you, you can point the finger at them and avoid some or perhaps even all of the liability for the crash.
Long story short, take care of your vehicles. The road is a dangerous enough place with cars and trucks that function the way they’re supposed to – those that don’t make it even worse. If you’ve got questions about a car crash you were in recently, we have answers. Give us a call today at 502-633-6002 for a free consultation.