If you are involved in an accident in Oklahoma and were partially at fault, you may still be able to recover compensation for your damages. Whether you can recover compensation and how much you can recover is determined in part by the percentage of fault assigned to you.
Injured in Oklahoma City? Call Warhawk Legal at (405) 397-1717 for a free consultation. Our personal injury attorneys work on contingency — you pay nothing unless we win your case.
Insurance companies and defense attorneys work hard to avoid liability and will shift as much blame as possible to you so they can pay as little as possible for your damages. At Warhawk Legal, we have a proven record of protecting our clients’ rights and helping them secure maximum compensation, and we want to do the same for you. Call (405) 397-1717 or visit our contact page and schedule a free consultation to discuss your claim.
What Is Comparative Negligence?
Comparative negligence is a legal doctrine that allows multiple parties to share fault for causing an accident. It assigns fault percentages to each party involved in the accident based on their actions. Your compensation is adjusted to reflect your percentage of responsibility for causing the accident.
Under Oklahoma law, you will be barred from recovering any compensation if you are more than 50% at fault for the accident. If you are 50% or less at fault, you can recover compensation, but your percentage of fault will reduce it. For example, if your damages total $100,000 and you are found to be 30% at fault, you could still recover $70,000 after deducting your percentage of fault.
How Is Fault Determined?
The evidence in your case determines each party’s percentage of fault. Each party’s actions are analyzed to decide whether or not they exercised reasonable care under the circumstances.
A jury will consider witness testimony, police reports, expert opinions, photographs, and video footage, and other relevant information to assign specific percentages of fault totalling 100 percent among all responsible parties.
Why You Need An Experienced Oklahoma Personal Injury Attorney On Your Side
Insurance companies understand this, and their attorneys and adjusters work diligently to shift blame to accident victims to help reduce their financial liability. They will scrutinize every detail of your accident, looking for ways to argue that you contributed to the accident.
You need an experienced auto accident attorney in OKC to protect your rights and fight for every percentage point of fault. The difference between recovering compensation and recovering nothing can depend on just one percentage point.
Let Warhawk Legal Help Protect Your Right To Recover Maximum Compensation For Your Damages
Insurance companies work hard to assign as much fault as possible to you to help them avoid liability and to pay you as little as possible. You need the help of an experienced Oklahoma personal injury lawyer to protect you against the unfair tactics insurance companies often use.
At Warhawk Legal, our Oklahoma personal injury attorneys have a proven record of securing maximum compensation for our clients. We know how to combat the insurance companies’ tactics, avoid or minimize any fault assigned to you, and help you recover the full value of your claim.
Call (405) 2397-1717 or visit our contact page and schedule a free consultation to discuss your personal injury claim.
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Comparative Negligence in Practice — Examples That Show the Math
Oklahoma’s 51% bar means your recovery is reduced by your fault percentage, and eliminated entirely if your fault reaches or exceeds 51%. Consider three scenarios. In a car crash where the other driver ran a red light and you were speeding: a jury might assign 10% fault to you and 90% to the red-light runner — a $400,000 damages verdict yields $360,000. In a slip and fall where the floor was wet and you were looking at your phone: a jury might assign 25% fault to you and 75% to the property owner — $200,000 in damages yields $150,000. In a construction accident where you ignored a safety barrier: a jury might assign 55% fault to you — you recover nothing under Oklahoma’s 51% bar. The examples illustrate why minimizing your assigned fault percentage matters enormously, and why evidence that places responsibility on the at-fault party is the core of every case.
How Comparative Fault Applies Differently by Case Type
In truck crash cases, carriers aggressively pursue comparative fault arguments because the damages are high and every percentage point they assign to the victim reduces their exposure substantially. Black box data, hours-of-service records, and maintenance logs are the tools that establish the truck driver’s fault share at 70%, 80%, or higher — reducing the victim’s assigned percentage and protecting the full damage award. In premises liability cases, property owners argue the hazard was “open and obvious” and that the victim bore full responsibility for looking where they walked. In multi-vehicle highway crashes, each driver’s speed, following distance, and reaction time are analyzed by accident reconstruction experts to allocate fault percentages among all parties. Understanding comparative negligence is essential to understanding why the evidence collection strategies in the first hours after a crash matter so much — they directly determine what you recover.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does comparative negligence apply if I was a passenger? Passengers are almost never at fault for a crash — they have no control over the vehicle. Passenger fault arguments are rare and usually fail unless the passenger was actively interfering with the driver.
What if both drivers blame each other — how does a jury decide? Juries allocate fault based on the physical evidence (skid marks, vehicle damage patterns, electronic data), witness testimony, and expert reconstruction analysis. Cases where both drivers dispute fault are exactly why physical evidence preservation in the immediate aftermath matters so much.
Does Warhawk Legal handle cases where my fault is disputed? Yes — disputed fault cases are our core practice. Joe Carson’s trial experience means we prepare every case for the verdict that comparative negligence analysis supports, not for a quick settlement that undervalues the claim. Call (405) 397-1717 for a free consultation.
If you or a loved one has been injured, contact our experienced Oklahoma City personal injury attorney at Warhawk Legal. We offer free consultations and only get paid when you win.