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What Is Comparative Negligence?
Comparative negligence is a legal principle used to determine how much fault each party bears in an accident. In many personal injury cases—like car accidents, slip and falls, or workplace injuries—more than one person or party may have contributed to what happened. Rather than denying compensation altogether if the injured person shares some blame, comparative negligence allows the court to assign a percentage of fault to each party.
For example, if you’re found to be 20% at fault for a car accident and the other driver is 80% at fault, you can still recover 80% of your total damages.
Connecticut’s Modified Comparative Negligence Rule
Connecticut follows a modified comparative negligence system under C.G.S. § 52-572h. This means that:
You can still recover compensation as long as you are not more than 50% at fault for the accident.
If you are 51% or more at fault – the so called “51% rule” — you cannot recover damages at all.
This is a critical threshold. Being just over half responsible can completely bar your ability to collect compensation, no matter how large your harms or damages may be. That’s why it’s important to have an experienced personal injury attorney who can investigate your case thoroughly and fight to reduce any fault unfairly assigned to you.
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