Comparative Negligence in New Jersey

With New Jersey’s comparative negligence law, you may collect damages from an accident unless you’re 51% at fault.
Written by Melanie Johnson
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
New Jersey
is a modified comparative negligence state, which means that you can collect damages from a car accident based on your percentage of fault—unless you are found to be 51% at fault for the accident. 
Sometimes fault is easy to determine in an accident, other times it's harder. When both parties are partially responsible for a collision, things become trickier. Comparative negligence laws come into play when an insurance company or the court determines that one or more parties have acted negligently. To protect yourself in these types of murky situations, you're required to carry a certain amount of
uninsured motorist coverage
.
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What is comparative negligence?

Comparative negligence is a legal term that allows an injured party to collect damages in an accident where they were partially at fault.
For example, if you’re in an accident and it’s determined that you were 30% at fault, you would be responsible for paying 30% of the other driver’s damages. The other driver would be responsible for paying 70% of your damages. 

Comparative negligence vs. contributory negligence

The three types of comparative negligence are pure comparative negligence, partial or modified comparative negligence, and contributory negligence. 
Each state upholds one of these rules:
  • Pure comparative negligence: The plaintiff may collect damages according to their percentage of fault—unless they are 100% at fault.
  • Partial/modified comparative negligence: The plaintiff may collect damages according to their percentage of fault—unless they are more than 50 or 51% at fault (depending on the state). 
  • Contributory negligence: The plaintiff may not collect damages if they are any percentage at fault. 
Twelve states follow pure comparative negligence laws, and only five states follow contributory negligence laws.

What is New Jersey’s comparative negligence law? 

New Jersey is one of 33 modified comparative negligence states in the U.S. Under New Jersey law, you are allowed to collect damages based on your percentage of fault—even if you are 50% at fault in the accident.
For example, if you are 45% at fault in an accident, you will be responsible for paying 45% of the other driver’s damages. Consequentially, they will be responsible for paying up to 55% of damages to your vehicle—according to their percentage of fault.

What happens if there are more than two responsible parties? 

If there are multiple parties at fault in an accident, the fault will be split amongst them. The percentage of fault of all parties must add up to 100%.
You may file a claim with all parties’ insurance companies, and you’ll be paid damages based on the percentage of fault each driver was determined to have.

How is fault decided in a comparative negligence case?

Police reports and evidence collected at the accident site help insurance companies assign blame. Information that insurance companies consider in deciding fault:
  • Circumstances of the collision (what happened)
  • Positioning of the vehicles in an accident
  • Witness testimony
  • Weather conditions and time of day
  • Crime scene footage (e.g., red light camera)
  • Photographs 
Do your due diligence to collect accurate information to provide to your insurance company, so they may rightly assign blame.

How does car insurance work with comparative negligence? 

Since New Jersey is a modified comparative negligence state, you will be able to file a claim with the other driver’s insurance company—as long as you are not more than 51% at fault in the accident. You will be awarded damages according to your degree of fault.
For example, let’s say two drivers are in an accident and both are deemed 50% at fault. In this case, each would be responsible for 50% of damages to the other driver’s vehicle. If one of them had been deemed 75% at fault instead, that driver would be responsible for 75% of the damages to the other driver’s vehicle or injuries.
In financial terms, if a driver is considered 50% at fault in the accident and had $1,000 in damage to their vehicle, they would be entitled to $500 from the other driver’s insurance company. If the same driver was instead 25% at fault in the accident, they would be entitled to $750—since the other driver’s fault in the accident was 75%.

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FAQs

Yes. If you are determined to be at fault in an accident, prepare for your car insurance rate to increase. There are many factors your insurance company will consider in determining how much to increase your rate, but it could go up as much as 50%.
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