What If I Was Partially at Fault for a Car Accident in Nevada?
Maybe you were speeding.
Maybe you changed lanes at the wrong time.
Maybe you looked down for a second.
Or maybe the insurance company is simply telling you that you were partly responsible for a crash that you believe was mostly someone else’s fault.
Whatever the situation, being partially responsible for a Nevada car accident does not automatically mean you lose the right to recover compensation.
Nevada uses a comparative-negligence system. Under NRS 41.141, an injured person can still recover damages when their own negligence is not greater than the negligence of the person—or combined parties—they are seeking recovery from.
In practical terms, that means fault can be shared.
And how that percentage is determined can have a major impact on the value of an injury claim.
What Does “Comparative Negligence” Mean?
After an accident, people often want a simple answer:
Who was at fault?
But real accidents are not always that clean.
More than one person can contribute to the same crash.
Nevada law allows fault to be divided among the people involved. If an injured plaintiff is also found partly negligent, that does not necessarily eliminate the claim.
NRS 41.141 provides that the plaintiff’s comparative negligence does not bar recovery so long as the plaintiff’s negligence is not greater than the negligence of the defendant or the combined negligence of multiple defendants. (Nevada Legislature)
The amount recovered can then be reduced to account for the injured person’s share of fault.
Can I Recover If I Was 10%, 25%, or 50% at Fault?
Potentially, yes.
A simplified example makes this easier to understand.
Assume a jury determines that your total damages are:
$100,000
But it also determines that you were:
20% responsible for the accident
Your own percentage of negligence would affect what you can recover.
The basic concept would be:
$100,000 in damages
− 20% attributable to you
= $80,000
That is why fault percentages matter.
Nevada law directs the jury to determine the total damages without first reducing them for the plaintiff’s negligence and separately assign percentages of negligence to the parties.
What Happens If I Am 50% at Fault?
This is an important distinction in Nevada.
Under NRS 41.141, the plaintiff is barred when the plaintiff’s negligence is greater than the negligence of the defendant or combined defendants.
So in a straightforward two-party negligence case:
50% plaintiff / 50% defendant
The plaintiff is not necessarily barred solely because the allocation is 50/50.
51% plaintiff / 49% defendant
The plaintiff would generally be barred from recovering under the comparative-negligence rule.
That difference between 50% and more than 50% can obviously become very important.
The exact analysis can become more complicated when several defendants or different theories of liability are involved.
Who Decides What Percentage of Fault I Have?
Insurance companies make their own liability assessments while adjusting claims.
But an insurer's position is not automatically the final legal determination.
If a case proceeds to trial, the jury can be asked to determine the percentage of negligence attributable to the parties.
Nevada law specifically provides for a verdict identifying the percentage of negligence assigned to each party remaining in the action.
Before trial, however, fault is often one of the biggest subjects of investigation and negotiation.
That can involve evidence such as:
police reports
photographs and video
traffic-camera footage
nearby surveillance footage
eyewitness statements
vehicle damage
event-data or vehicle records where available
roadway conditions
traffic signals and signs
phone records where relevant
accident reconstruction
testimony from the drivers and passengers
This is why you should be careful about assuming fault immediately after a collision.
You may not yet have all the evidence.
The Insurance Company Says I Was Partly at Fault. Does That Make It True?
No.
An insurance adjuster can take a position about liability, but that does not necessarily resolve the issue.
The insurer has an obvious reason to care about the percentage of fault assigned to you: a greater percentage attributed to the injured person can reduce the value of the claim, and sufficiently high comparative negligence can potentially defeat recovery altogether.
That makes statements about fault particularly important.
You should not lie, hide information, or misrepresent what happened.
But there is also no advantage in guessing.
If you genuinely do not know something, you do not have to invent an answer simply because an adjuster is asking questions.
Should I Admit That the Accident Was Partly My Fault?
Be accurate about the facts.
But avoid turning your initial impression into a legal conclusion.
Statements such as:
“It was completely my fault.”
“I shouldn’t have been there.”
“I guess I caused it.”
“I wasn't paying attention.”
“We were both equally responsible.”
can become significant later.
The problem is that people often make those statements before they have seen:
the police report
surveillance video
witness statements
the other driver’s account
vehicle data
photographs of the scene
There is a difference between describing what happened and trying to assign yourself a legal percentage of responsibility.
The evidence should drive that analysis.
What If I Was Speeding When the Other Driver Hit Me?
Speeding can be relevant, but it does not automatically mean you caused the collision.
Consider a hypothetical situation:
You are traveling above the speed limit through an intersection.
Another driver turns directly across your lane without yielding.
Both actions may become part of the liability analysis.
Questions could include:
How fast were you actually traveling?
Did the other driver have enough time to see you?
Who had the right of way?
Was the turn itself unsafe?
Would the crash have occurred even at the speed limit?
Did your speed affect the severity of the collision?
Simply proving that someone violated a traffic rule does not by itself answer every question about how an accident happened.
What If I Wasn't Wearing a Seat Belt?
That is different from determining who caused the collision itself.
Questions involving seat-belt use, injury causation, and damages can raise different legal and evidentiary issues from the underlying question of who caused the crash.
Do not assume that failing to wear a seat belt automatically means you caused the accident.
An attorney can evaluate how the issue may actually affect the specific claim.
What If Both Drivers Say the Other Person Caused the Accident?
That happens frequently.
When the accounts conflict, objective evidence becomes especially important.
A car-accident investigation may look for:
Video
Businesses, homes, dash cameras, traffic systems, and other vehicles may have captured part of the crash.
Physical evidence
Vehicle damage, debris, skid marks, and final resting positions may help explain how the collision occurred.
Witnesses
Independent witnesses can sometimes provide information neither driver can.
Police documentation
The responding officer may document statements, roadway conditions, citations, diagrams, and other information.
Experts
More complicated collisions may require accident-reconstruction or other technical analysis.
The point is not to automatically accept whichever driver sounds more confident.
It is to determine what the evidence supports.
What If More Than Two Drivers Were Involved?
Comparative fault can become more complicated in multi-vehicle accidents.
Nevada law allows the jury to identify percentages of negligence attributable to multiple parties. In many negligence actions involving more than one defendant, each defendant is generally responsible for the portion of the judgment corresponding to that defendant’s percentage of negligence, subject to statutory exceptions.
A pileup, commercial-vehicle crash, or chain-reaction collision could therefore involve allegations against several different drivers or companies.
Potential responsible parties might include:
another driver
multiple drivers
a commercial driver
the driver's employer
a vehicle owner
another company connected to the incident
Identifying every potentially responsible party can be particularly important in a serious-injury case.
Can the Other Driver Be Mostly at Fault Even If I Received a Ticket?
Possibly.
A traffic citation can be important evidence, but it should not automatically be treated as the entire civil-liability analysis.
A personal injury case looks at the circumstances surrounding the collision and whether negligence caused or contributed to the injuries.
If you received a citation but believe another driver also contributed to the crash, the circumstances should still be evaluated rather than assuming the ticket ends the discussion.
What If I Already Told the Insurance Adjuster I Was at Fault?
Do not assume that one statement automatically ends the case.
The exact words used, the context, available evidence, and what actually happened all matter.
If you have already given a statement:
Do not attempt to “fix” it by making up a different story.
Preserve any communications with the insurance company.
Write down what you remember discussing.
Gather the evidence you have from the crash.
Have the situation evaluated before giving additional detailed statements.
Ryan has discussed this problem in his existing insurance-adjuster video: insurers may begin asking questions almost immediately after an accident, sometimes before the injured person understands the full situation.
Related:
What the Insurance Adjuster Is Trying to Get You to Say After a Las Vegas Car Accident
How Does Partial Fault Affect a Settlement?
Fault is one of several factors that can affect settlement negotiations.
Consider another simplified example:
Total supported damages:
$250,000
Disputed comparative fault:
25%
If 25% comparative negligence were ultimately assigned to the injured person, that percentage could substantially reduce the recoverable damages.
But that does not mean an insurer can simply announce “you were 25% at fault” and make that percentage unquestionable.
Liability can be negotiated and disputed just like other aspects of the claim.
The evidence supporting the percentage matters.
Why Insurance Companies Care So Much About Fault
A personal injury claim is not evaluated only by asking:
“Was our insured involved?”
The carrier also evaluates:
whether its insured was negligent
whether the injured person contributed
whether another party contributed
whether the injuries were caused by the accident
how much damage can be documented
what defenses may exist
Comparative negligence gives insurers another issue to investigate and potentially dispute.
That is why an early statement about fault can matter even when someone believes they are simply having an informal conversation.
What Should I Do After an Accident If Fault Is Unclear?
Focus first on preserving accurate information.
Document the scene
Take photographs and video if you safely can.
Get witness information
Do not assume the police report will contain every witness.
Preserve digital evidence
Save dashcam footage, photographs, text messages, and other relevant records.
Get appropriate medical care
If you are injured, seek medical attention and accurately explain how the injury occurred.
Avoid arguing at the scene
You do not have to resolve liability on the side of the road.
Be careful with insurance statements
Provide truthful required information, but do not guess about things you do not know.
Get the claim evaluated
Particularly when liability is disputed, early investigation can make a significant difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I recover compensation if I was partly responsible for a Nevada accident?
Potentially. Under Nevada’s comparative-negligence statute, the plaintiff’s negligence does not bar recovery when it is not greater than the negligence of the defendant or combined defendants.
Can I recover if I was exactly 50% responsible?
In a typical two-party negligence case, Nevada’s statute bars recovery when the plaintiff’s negligence is greater than the defendant’s negligence. That means an exact 50/50 allocation is treated differently from being more than 50% responsible.
Does my compensation decrease if I share fault?
Yes, comparative negligence can reduce the damages recoverable according to the percentage of negligence assigned to the plaintiff. Nevada’s statute requires the factfinder to determine both total damages and the percentages of negligence.
Can an insurance company decide I was at fault?
An insurer can make a liability determination for purposes of handling the claim, but its assessment is not necessarily the final judicial determination.
Should I accept the percentage of fault the adjuster gives me?
Not automatically. Ask what evidence supports that determination and consider having disputed liability evaluated before accepting a significant reduction in your claim.
What if there were several vehicles involved?
Fault may potentially be divided among multiple parties. Nevada law provides for percentages of negligence to be assigned among parties in applicable cases.
Don’t Decide You Lost Your Case Before the Evidence Does
People frequently walk away from crashes believing they did something wrong.
Sometimes they did.
But personal injury law does not always require one person to be 100% responsible and the other person to be 0% responsible.
Nevada law recognizes that responsibility can be shared.
If you were injured in a Las Vegas accident and someone is claiming that you were partly, or completely, at fault, Ryan Alexander and his team can review the evidence, explain how Nevada’s comparative-negligence rules may apply, and help you understand your options.
Call (702) 333-8888
