New Mexico is a fault state meaning responsibility is assigned to whoever caused the accident. Fault insurance is common in most states and the at-fault driver is required to pay for damages to property and medical bills from injuries in the accident. Since New Mexico is such a strict fault state, drivers can attempt to seek compensation for medical bills through a lawsuit.
Another key point to know is that New Mexico uses a comparative negligence system so you collect damages based on the amount of fault. However, this tort principle is in effect to reduce the amount of damages that someone can recover in a claim. This prevents plaintiff from not being able to recover 100% of the damages. For example if the court assigns 70% fault to the defendant and 30% to the plaintiff, the victim can only collect 70%.
New Mexico is a pure comparative negligence state just as about 1/3 of states in the US are. You can still recover some amount even if you were 99% at fault. This is a clear benefit over states that are contributory negligent states where you cannot recover anything if you were at fault in any way. Some states also only allow victims to recover damages if they were less than 51% at fault.
Car accident cases are very common in New Mexico. You want representation that will get you the best outcome. If you want an attorney to negotiate on your behalf to recover damages, you have come to the right place. We will fight for you to get the most amount of compensation you are entitled to in New Mexico. Keep in mind that since New Mexico is a fault state, insurance is generally less expensive than states that are no fault states.
In addition New Mexico has minimum car insurance coverage laws to keep people safe on the road. If you do not already know New Mexico requires car owners to have $50,000 in coverage per accident, $25,000 per person and $10,000 towards property damage. It is smart to buy as much coverage as you can afford to cover medical bills and serious accidents should they come up. The amount you pay per month or per year is trivial compared to what you can be faced with should you not have enough coverage to deal with a very bad accident.
Reach out to us today with your car accident claim at 505-207-4401.