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One of the most common concerns accident victims have is whether they can still file a claim if they were partially at fault for the accident. The good news is that California follows a pure comparative negligence system, which means you can still recover compensation even if you share some of the blame. Understanding how comparative negligence works is essential to protecting your rights after an accident in Orange County. What Is Comparative Negligence in California? Comparative negligence is a legal doctrine that allows an injured person to recover damages even when they are partially responsible for causing the accident. Under California’s pure comparative negligence system, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you are never completely barred from recovery regardless of how much fault is attributed to you. For example, if you are involved in a car accident and a jury determines that your total damages are $200,000 but that you were 30 percent at fault, you would still be entitled to recover $140,000 — your total damages minus your share of fault. Even if you were 90 percent at fault, you could still recover 10 percent of your total damages. How Fault Is Determined in California Determining each party’s percentage of fault involves evaluating all of the evidence surrounding the accident. This can include police reports documenting the officer’s observations and any citations issued, witness statements from people who saw the accident occur, physical evidence including vehicle damage patterns, skid marks, and road conditions, surveillance […]