Sumner County

Car Accidents in Sumner County

Sumner County is a scenic county of about 160,645 people located in Tennessee. The county seat is Gallatin, but the largest city in Sumner is Hendersonville. Hendersonville is about 18 miles northeast of downtown Nashville. Numerous famous singers have lived in Hendersonville including Roy Orbison, Taylor Swift and Johnny Cash. In 2009, Family Circle Magazines named Hendersonville one of the ten best cities for families. Gallatin is home to the Boxwell Boy Scout Reservation on Old Hickory Lake. In spite of the beautiful scenery and many enjoyable things to do, Sumner County is the site of car accidents and other personal injury matters, like most places in the country. Most recently, Sumner ranked 51st of Tennessee counties for its overall crash rate. If you are hurt in a car crash, an experienced Sumner County personal injury attorney may be able to help you recover the compensation to which you’re entitled.

Negligence in Tennessee

Most car crashes are not the result of intentional conduct, but are the product of negligence by one or more drivers. In order to prove negligence, a plaintiff must prove: (1) duty, (2) breach of duty, (3) causation, and (4) damages. In some cases, a car crash victim may have also had some role in causing or exacerbating his injuries. Accordingly, Tennessee follows a modified comparative fault doctrine. This means that in any car accident case, a defendant can raise the affirmative defense that the victim or another party was also at fault in the accident. After the evidence is presented at trial, the jury will determine and allocate the extent to which each of the parties was negligent. If you have been hurt in a crash in or near Sumner County, our personal injury lawyers can assess your case.

A plaintiff’s percentage of fault for the accident determines whether and how much he should recover. If a jury determines he is 50% or more at fault, he cannot recover at all in Tennessee, no matter how injured he is. However, if he is 49% or less at fault, his damages will be reduced by his percentage of fault. This means that a person who suffers damages of $500,000 but was deemed 50% at fault for speeding will be unable to recover any of the $500,000. However, if he is deemed 10% at fault, he can recover $450,000.

This analysis can be complicated if there are three or more people at fault for an accident, but an experienced personal injury lawyer can help you apply these rules to your case in Sumner County. As long as the plaintiff is 49% or less responsible for the accident, he can recover compensation from any other parties responsible for his injuries. However, he can only recover from any of the defendants the amount of damages for which he is responsible. Tennessee does not follow the doctrine of joint and several liability, which allows a plaintiff to collect from a single responsible defendant the full amount of damages that would compensate him.

Recover Compensation with the Help of a Sumner County Personal Injury Attorney

After a serious car crash, you should be focusing on your physical recovery, but instead you may be stressed by how you’ll pay for expensive medical bills and afraid to take the time you need away from work in order to rest. Knowledgeable Sumner County car accident attorney Matt Hardin will investigate what happened and hire an accident reconstruction expert if necessary to prove you were not 50% or more at fault for an accident. Schedule a free consultation by calling us at 615-200-1111 or via our online form.

Gallatin Truck Accidents
Gallatin Car Accidents
Hendersonville Truck Accident Lawyers
Hendersonville Car Accident Lawyers