If you have a claim for injuries after a car wreck or any other kind of injury involving a motor vehicle, you may hear about the doctrine of “sudden emergency.” Under North Carolina law, sudden emergency is a defense that “excuses” negligent conduct. If a court determines that a defendant faced a sudden emergency, then the defendant would be excused from whatever conduct they took that hurt you.
For sudden emergency to apply, the defense must prove that:
- The emergency really was sudden, meaning it happened so fast they had no chance to anticipate it or react;
- Another person in the same or similar circumstances would have taken similar action to what the defendant did, and, most importantly:
- The defendant must NOT have contributed to the emergency
Insurance adjusters and defense attorneys will often raise this defense even when they have no grounds for it, just to get you to abandon your claim or to try to force you to take less than you should. Our lawyers have dealt with the doctrine of sudden emergency and other car wreck laws for over 50 years of combined practice. If you have a personal injury claim, contact us today for a free consultation. We’ve got your back.
