At first glance, the laws and regulations surrounding liability for motor vehicle accidents can seem daunting, particularly because legal jargon is pretty opaque. However, the basic principles are fairly simple and logical.

First off, insurance companies need to determine who is at fault in an accident, as this will impact who is awarded damages and how much payment each party receives. Under common law, there are different kinds of fault. The two most commonly applied to car accidents are negligence, which is careless or inadvertently harmful behavior, and recklessness, which involves a deliberate disregard for the safety of other people. Failing to observe the proper procedure at a four way stop would be a case of negligence, while drunk driving would constitute reckless behavior.

One more useful piece of vocabulary before we move on: If you cause an accident, you have committed a tort, which is a private wrong committed outside of a contract. Someone who commits a tort is called a tortfeasor. You may notice this language in your insurance policy, but don’t let it intimidate you.

 After you’ve submitted your insurance claim, your insurance company will negotiate with the insurance company of the other party or parties on your behalf. Together, the companies will decide what is fair compensation for each party.

Insurance claims adjusters look at four factors in order to determine fault: duties, breach, causation, and damages. All four of these elements need to be in place in order for the company to assert that a party is at fault.

First, every driver has certain duties while on the road. These duties are usually described as “look out,” avoidance, and following the rules of the road. “Look out” means that you need to be aware of your surroundings at all times. It’s your duty to see what is happening on the road and in your environment. For this reason, never tell an adjuster or police officer that you “didn’t see the other car” or “it came out of nowhere.” This is enough to establish that you are at least partially at fault, as you didn’t uphold your duty to be aware of your surroundings.

Avoidance means that you have to do your best to avoid the accident. This doesn’t mean that you have to actually avoid the accident, it just means that you have to demonstrate that you tried. For example, if a car runs a red light as you are entering an intersection and you don’t brake or swerve to avoid hitting that car, then you are partially at fault, even though the other driver broke the law. The third duty, following the rules of the road, is fairly straightforward.

In order to determine fault, insurance companies need to show that you have failed in one of these duties. This is known as a breach. They also need to show causation, i.e. that there is a connection between the duty breached and the damages caused. All damages, either property damages or injuries, must be related to the duty breach that you caused. For example, say that your car is parked with the engine running, but you are not wearing your seatbelt; another car hits you, and you are injured in the collision. On the one hand, you were breaking the law by not wearing your seatbelt. However, this breach did not cause the accident, i.e. wearing your seatbelt would in no way have ameliorated this accident. Therefore, you are not liable for damages to either car. However, if failure to wear the seatbelt exacerbated your injuries, your claims for these damages due to personal injury could be reduced.

In order to make these determinations, insurance companies rely on the police report and other accounts of the accident. In making your claim, it may be helpful to review the police report yourself and to check up on local law codes regarding the driving situation you were in. If you can cite a specific code that the other driver broke, you will be going a long way towards helping your insurance company prove the other side was at fault.

There are two kinds of accidents where fault is pretty straightforward. The first is a rear end accident. In this instance, the driver behind you is always at fault, as he or she has a clear duty to maintain a safe following distance. Even if you stop suddenly, the other driver should have enough space to stop safely as well. If that driver has been pushed into you by another car, he could claim damages from the car that hit him. However, he is still liable for the damages to your car. If you’ve done something wrong, such as driving without working brake lights, your damages award could be reduced.

The other case is a left turn accident. In this scenario, the driver turning left is at fault, as the driver going straight has the right of way. There are a few exceptions, of course, such as if the other driver is speeding or runs a red light.

In most other types of accidents, there will most likely be some degree of fault on both sides. In these cases, the way that fault is handled varies from state to state. Four different kinds of laws are in place.

In states with contributory negligence laws, if either party is at all at fault, then they cannot claim damages. Even if you are only slightly at fault for an accident, you will not be able to claim any damages. Only a few states follow this law: Alabama, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.

Another, more common kind of law, is pure comparative fault. Under this law, your damage award is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are 10% at fault, then your award will be reduced by 10%. New York, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, California, Missouri, New Mexico, Arizona, South Dakota, Washington and Alaska use this law.

Other states use proportional comparative fault. This means that if you are above a certain percentage at fault, you will not be able to claim damages. Some states set the bar at 51%, so if you are found to be 51% or more at fault, you cannot claim damages. These states include Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Other states set the bar at 50%, so that if you are 50% or more responsible, you can’t claim for damages. States using this law are: Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia.

Once fault is determined, the next step is to assess the total cost of all damages. For this reason, it is important that you keep records of any expenses related to the accident. This is also why it is essential that you receive a medical check-up shortly after the accident, even if you do not think you are seriously injured. If a more serious problem does manifest itself in the weeks after the accident, it can be become increasingly difficult to prove that this problem was directly caused by the accident. Damages in the form of lost wages and loss of future earnings are also taken into account, as are general damages, such as pain and suffering or reduced quality of life, although these can be more complicated. In the case of a particularly severe or complicated accident, it could be a good idea to consult a lawyer, as these cases can become very complex.

Finally, it always helps to be familiar with your insurance policy and the liability limits. Note that there will be two separate limits for injury and property damages. Purchasing personal injury protection or no fault coverage will ensure that you are covered by your insurance company no matter who is at fault. Uninsured or underinsured coverage makes sure that you are covered even if the other party does not have insurance or does not have enough to cover the full cost of damages to you and your vehicle.

But the question came up at my class again last Saturday…. how does the 4-point reduction work?

Here is a quote from our Empire Safety Council Student Workbook: “Completion of a course under the N.Y. State Point & Insurance Reduction Program (PIRP) does not remove, delete, subtract or erase any violation, conviction or notice of original number of points from your driving record. Even after you complete the course, most violations, convictions and points assessed will continue to show on your driving record for up to four years.”

What does this mean?

After you take the class, a notation is made on your DMV driving record indicating that you completed the class, while the original notation of convictions or points will remain.

The 4-point reduction helps you to keep your NY State driver license if you are at or over the 11-point limit where your license becomes suspended. (If you accumulate 11 or more points within 18 months, you will be called to a DMV hearing, after which your license may be suspended or revoked.)

“All we do is react to what people do when you pull them over,” said Dennis Fanning, a homicide detective and veteran officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. “We don’t instigate the stuff, but we will react to you. The situation will escalate or de-escalate depending on how that person reacts.”

To argue with cops is akin to calling them idiots. Don’t do that. “That’s implying that I pulled you over for no reason and that bothers me,” Koep said.

Keep It Honest

Don’t lie, either. Cops are trained to note the human characteristics of lying, including twitching and looking to the left, and they know the right questions to ask to suss out the truth.

Fanning estimates that nine out of 10 people lie to him. “It’s an attack on our intelligence,” he said.

Moreover, the truth can set you free. Koep recalled an incident when he pulled a young guy over for speeding.

“He looks straight at me and says, ‘You know, officer, I wasn’t even paying attention. I just had the best date of my life. I just met my future bride. I’m just on cloud nine right now.’

“The guy was completely serious,” Koep said. “How are you going to write that guy up after that? Who makes that kind of stuff up?”

Of course, don’t use pejoratives when addressing the police, unless you’re eager for a ticket. But other words may backfire, too. Rittorno works in a crime-ridden section of Chicago where the majority of people she pulls over for traffic violations don’t have licenses or insurance, she said.

“So I get a lot of, ‘I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean it, sweetheart,’” she said. “I hate being called ‘baby’ or ‘sweetheart.’ I’m ‘officer’ to you.”

The police don’t like being talked over, either. “Be polite,” said Chicago Officer Mike Thomas. “You have your rights as a citizen, too, but it doesn’t do you any good to talk while he’s talking.”

Cops know that people are nervous when they get pulled over, and they expect a certain amount of jumpiness when they approach a car. Rittorno even admitted she’s intimidated in the same situation. “I’m the police and I get scared if I get pulled over,” she said.

But did you know they’re on edge, too? You know who they are, but they don’t know whether you’re a good guy or a bad guy. “The only thing on his mind when he approaches you is safety,” Thomas said. “You know you don’t have a gun in your lap, but the officer doesn’t know it.”

Rittorno, for one, said she assumes everyone has a gun. “I’m always on 10,” she said, referring to her high level of vigilance. “I take it down depending on their demeanor or what I see.”

Stay Calm

When those headlights go on, it’s best to pull the car to the right, stay in the car, turn the interior lights on if it’s dark and put your hands on the steering wheel.

Don’t make any quick movements, and don’t turn to grab your purse or put your hands in your pocket or under your seat to retrieve your license — until the officer instructs you to. Then, do it slowly.

Don’t move to open the glove box either, until directed. And do that slowly, too. Let the police shine a light inside the box before you reach in. Many criminals hide guns in glove boxes.

“What’s going to cause the situation to get worse is for the fear factor to rise in that officer,” Koep said. “The officer is more likely to cut you a break as long as you can reduce that fear. …If you’re friendly with me, not arguing or denying what happened, that lowers the fear factor and will make me a lot more cooperative with you.”

Don’t boast about who you know, either. That can infuriate cops. They consider it a veiled threat to their livelihoods. Fortunately, most municipalities have laws in place to insure that an officer is not fired or reprimanded for ticketing, say, the mayor’s daughter.

Finally, never try to buy off a cop. “In those instances where they’ve offered me a bribe,” Fanning said. “I loved making those arrests.”

Jennifer Waters is a MarketWatch – Yahoo Finance reporter, based in Chicago.

If you drive defensively in Texas, you may be familiar with the following observations. If you don’t, you may or may not notice similarities from the state in which you drive in. Texas is so big, yes I know that is a cliché, but it is also true, that you can find all sorts of driving in different types of cities. The people you meet are one of a kind. The weather is sometimes unpredictable, but it’s best that if you are driving in Texas that your vehicle have air conditioning.

The cities in Texas themselves are more varied. For example, Austin defensive driving has more hills than Houston. Actually, any town can have more hills than Houston defensive driving. Big cities like Houston have suburbs, inner city, farmland, and within those, traffic. The traffic in Houston is one of the worst in the country. It can take someone one hour to get to work in the morning. And that is not at all uncommon. The improvements made to some highways, like Interstate 10 have eased that a bit, but now there are tolls and more and more people. It won’t be long before it gets back to the way it used to be. The suburbs are just as you see them in the movies. Houses look similar, there are kids everywhere and from the hours of 6 am to 8am as well as from 4pm to 7pm, you’re driving will be hectic. More and more people are moving back into the city. That means more traffic going into the city then there was before. Cows don’t seem to be that much trouble in the country but hitting a deer is very common, and of course dangerous.

There is a saying that very few people in Houston are natives. That is because so many people come from different parts of the country and world to settle there. The medical and oil industries have kept Houston from falling as far as other cities during the economic crisis. People that were able to sell their houses in California for example, go to Houston and get more home for their dollar. Maybe the Californians find the driving in Texas not so bad compared to what they had. But lets not forget the southern hospitality that you get from the locals. Yes they will flick you off in the middle of the road, and maybe even try to run you over with their trucks, but they can make some awesome iced tea, BBQ and fajitas.

The weather may be just as volatile as the people. One day you will need to drive with your AC at full blast and the next just roll down the windows and enjoy the fresh air. Recent storms have taught the Texan drivers that it is not a good idea to drive down a road when you can’t see the pavement. But it is amazing to be driving in the middle of strong rain one second and sunny roads the next. You can sometimes see the curtain of rain behind you. During spring you can see fields and fields of blue bonnets and daisies. There aren’t buildings as old as there are in other places, but mother nature provides for beautiful scenery.

There are so many things we all complain about when it comes to driving. I will focus on a couple of driver types to keep it short and simple because my list can go on and on. I’m sure everyone has heard of “everything is bigger in Texas”.

And it is true. Everything includes trucks. I’m talking about monster trucks that think they own the road and the big ego drivers that drive them. And it is not just the men. The women truck drivers are just as bad. The recent trend to go green and get a smaller vehicle has brought on a war against the small cars. The big trucks will act as if they don’t see the small cars and pretty much drive them off the road. They don’t bother to signal, give the right of way or use common courtesy.

Another hazard out there is the football moms. Not soccer moms, they are not as abundant, but the football moms that drive in an unbelievably enormous SUV and have a sticker for every kid they have on the back windshield. Normally you can catch them on their cell, drinking their cappuccino, yelling at the kid in the backseat and driving at the same time. These are the same ladies that enforce to their kids safe driving.

I went to my court date and sat and waited while being treated like a child (no hat, no talking, no phone, etc). When it was my turn, I showed the judge my insurance card, she removed the charge and I paid the speeding ticket on my way out. The court process was a pain as most government run things are…

I completed my texas defensive driving on www.texasdefensivedrivingcommission.com and had the ticket removed from my record, while also updating my insurance discount.

It has been 368 days since I last got a speeding ticket. (I only know this because it was the day we moved into our house).

-Jason C.