When someone has been the victim of a motor vehicle collision, they have the option of pursuing a lawsuit against the person responsible for their injuries. Each state limits the amount of time in which legal action can be commenced. This is called the statute of limitations, and the plaintiff in Washington must file their lawsuit within three years from the date the injury occurred.
Discovery Rule
The State of Washington has a discovery rule that allows the plaintiff to sue the defendant after the injury has been discovered. Victims of auto accidents may not know about an injury right away. Personal injury claims may be filed after the statute of limitations has run out in certain cases. This would be applicable if the accident involved a defective automotive product, such as tires, seatbelts or airbags. Several years could pass before an auto manufacturer issues a recall. People may not be aware that a faulty gas pedal or other design defect was to blame for their injuries.
Tolling The Statute Of Limitations
Tolling the statute describes when the statute of limitations has been stalled for a period of time. Typically this happens when the injured victim is a minor. It can also occur if the victim is deemed mentally incompetent at the time of injury. In Washington, a minor’s statute of limitations begins to run on the day they turn 18.
How Negligence Is Determined
Determining which party is negligent is a major factor in any personal injury case. Negligence occurs when one person harms another through intentional misconduct or reckless behavior. The state of Washington follows the doctrine of pure comparative negligence. This means that a judge or jury is responsible for assigning a percentage of blame to each party involved. If the plaintiff is suing for $80,000 and the jury finds him 10 percent at fault, he can still recover $72,000 in damages.
Getting Advice From A Legal Professional
When a person is involved in an auto accident, it can leave them with devastating injuries. They may have temporary or permanent disabilities that leave them unable to work for a period of time. Victims have the legal right to collect damages for lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. Therefore, it is important to hire an experienced personal injury attorney to make sure you obtain compensation for your injuries
More Information On The Statutes Of Limitation
The idea behind statutes of limitations is mainly one of general practicability and fairness. It is never fair to let a legal matter hang unfinished over someone’s head indefinitely. There needs to be a distinct end to each legal conflict in order to let the parties involved move on with their lives. Particular legal matters may cause parties to cease certain business transactions or personal activity as they await the outcome.
A similar dynamic is at work with respect to statutes of limitation. The offending party in any legal dispute knows that he or she committed or may be accused of committing some wrong against the other party. In such a case, the wronged party must decide whether to press a lawsuit in order to recover for his or her wrong. The law will not tolerate a procrastinative plaintiff, a plaintiff who delays for effect, or one who is negligent or forgetful. After a period of time has passed, the chance to sue disappears.
How Long?
The lengths of time for statutes of limitation correspond roughly to the amount of notice that both parties have regarding the underlying injury or wrong. The more notice both parties have that there is a problem and the more likely it is that the injured party will sue, the longer the statute of limitation. The less likely it is that the offending party will be aware of his wrong or the more inconsequential it is likely to be, the shorter the statute of limitation.
The longest statutes of limitation are generally those regarding the recovery of judgments after a lawsuit. Obviously, the parties are clearly on notice in this situation. If the losing party refuses to pay his judgment, it should come as no surprise that he will be sued, even if it is as many as ten years later. On the other hand, if one person is physically injured by another person but does not sue within a year or two, it is reasonable to expect that the plaintiff either forgot about the injury or it was not as serious as originally suspected. In this case, the potential defendant is protected from a lawsuit that he may not even be aware is pending, especially more than a year or two after the accident that caused the injury occurred.
Where no statute is listed on the following chart, it is probable that there is simply not a specific statute governing the situation. In these cases, a general civil statute of limitation most likely applies. For example, in cases of medical malpractice, the statute of limitation may just as easily be covered by the statute governing personal injury.
From When to When?
There are many interesting controversies about when statutes of limitation begin and end. In many cases, the injured party may not even know he was wronged until a great while after the wrong was committed. This is often true in the case of breach of contract or fraud, and it often arises, perhaps surprisingly, in cases of personal injury or medical malpractice. In the case of certain surgical procedures, the party may not know that, for example, a sponge was left in his abdomen or something else was done improperly — until years later. There has also been much controversy, now largely settled by statute, about whether the statute should begin to run when the wrong was committed or when it was discovered. Court decisions have largely gone in favor of the injured party, allowing the statute to start running upon discovery of the injury or when the injury or act of negligence should “reasonably have been discovered.”
Most states “toll” or stop the statute of limitation upon the incapacity of the injured party. But there are a number of ways a person can be incapacitated. If the person has been committed to a mental hospital or is out of the country, these may toll the statute of limitation until they either regain their mental facilities or return from abroad.
Overall, the statutes of limitation are fair and reasonable limitations of potentially disruptive and always distracting legal action between parties. Dramatic stories about lawyers rushing to file papers before the statute runs out are almost always due to the injured party’s (or the party’s attorney’s) procrastination or negligence.