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In 2017, as many as 40,000 people lost their lives in the US to motor vehicle accidents [1]. The various costs involved in an accident can leave anyone gasping for air. If involved in a collision, the work remains to identify the at-fault party amidst all the chaos. It just takes a split of a second for an accident to happen, and it can leave a person with lifelong disabilities or even death.
When you head out to a lawyer to file a personal injury lawsuit, you may find out that the at-fault party has used sudden emergency doctrine as a defense. In this blog, we discuss the following –
As per sudden emergency doctrine, an at-fault driver is found “not negligent” due to unavoidable external and exceptional situations. Therefore, if you head to file a motor vehicle accident claim and the defense has used sudden emergency doctrine, you may even lose out on the compensation! However, the at-fault driver will need to prove that he was not negligent and the accident was caused due to external factors or sudden critical health conditions. The sudden emergency doctrine asserts that when a person faces an emergency, he/she takes a spontaneous decision, which is why they cannot be held accountable for the resulting accident.
Actions taken by an individual in times of emergency might not always be reasonable or safe. While it is not the wisest choice a person makes then, it happens to be the best choice to avoid an injury or more significant accident. Here are some of the instances where a sudden emergency doctrine can be called in-
The catch in sudden emergency doctrine is that not anything that an at-fault driver does quickly or in reflex is regarded as negligent. For example, in the state of Washington, losing control of your car in the wet road post rains isn’t an emergency. It is expected in the state, and hence drivers are expected to know how to deal with this particular situation.
The ground rule for this is that the driver who had suffered from a medical emergency while driving should prove that they had no preexisting health woes, which may have led to it. The at-fault driver has the added burden of proof to show that the accident wasn’t a result of negligent driving. Here are the three main elements to prove medical emergency for a motor vehicle accident –
The time frame between the accident and when the driver faced a medical emergency is highly crucial. Although the court of law doesn’t recommend any specified time frame, the accident should happen right after the medical emergency for the driver to use sudden emergency doctrine in his/her defense.
If there was sufficient time for the driver to act consciously or recover from the emergency, the court might dismiss the claim. In such cases, the driver is held responsible because of negligent driving behavior. Also, if road signs warn the driver about a specific road condition ahead, it is expected that the driver will follow the precautions and avoid accidents. Therefore, the court can deny the claim for sudden emergency doctrine in such cases because the danger in the road was pre-informed, and hence it is the driver’s negligence that may have caused the accident. On the other hand, if a medical emergency occurs and the accident happens immediately before or after, the defense becomes stronger.
For a defense to use sudden emergency doctrine, it is essential to prove the total unconsciousness of the driver. The defense uses this point to confirm that the accident wasn’t caused due to negligent driving.
Note- If the driver was driving against medical advice, then he/she cannot use the sudden emergency doctrine to justify their negligence.
If a driver had a seizure while driving, then the seriousness of the seizure does matter when it comes to sudden emergency doctrine. The emergency doctrine requires medical evidence that the seizure was unexpected and severe. Here’s what you need to watch out for-
Recorded proof of the seizure is essential for sudden emergency doctrine cases. In addition, the follow-up treatment immediately after such a seizure is important because if there was a delay in treatment, then it shows that the seizure wasn’t as serious. This would make the case weak in the court when pleading for the sudden emergency doctrine for medical conditions in a motor vehicle accident.
When faced with critical legal situations such as these, it is always recommended to have expert attorneys by your side. If you are a defendant using the sudden emergency doctrine or a victim, having an expert lawyer will ensure that you get your claims (if you have a genuine case). Searching for the best lawyer in town might take time and extra effort, which you might not want to spend because you need to focus on your physical recovery too! The Legal Helpers is a one-stop solution to bring your search to an end as we have a comprehensive list of the best motor vehicle attorneys in your area to choose from. All you need to do is search for your case and select the lawyer that suits your requirements and case expertise.
Resources-
1. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2018/02/15/national-safety-council-traffic-deaths/340012002/
