June 10, 2026 • Legal Guides
One of the most misunderstood areas of California personal injury law is comparative negligence. Many injury victims incorrectly assume that if they were partially at fault for an accident, they cannot recover anything. In California, this is not true.
What Is Pure Comparative Negligence?
California follows the doctrine of pure comparative negligence (Civil Code Section 1714). Under this rule, each party in an accident is assigned a percentage of fault, and their recovery is reduced by that percentage. Even if you are 99% at fault, you can theoretically still recover 1% of your damages.
A Practical Example
Suppose you are in a car accident and a jury determines your total damages are $200,000. The jury also finds that you were 25% at fault because you were slightly speeding, while the other driver was 75% at fault for running a red light. Your recovery would be reduced by 25%, meaning you receive $150,000.
How Insurance Companies Exploit This
Insurance adjusters are trained to argue that you bear a higher percentage of fault than you actually do. Every percentage point they can attribute to you reduces what they must pay. This is one of the most important reasons to have experienced legal representation: we fight to minimize your assigned fault and maximize your recovery.
Never accept an insurance company's fault assessment at face value. Their determination of your percentage of fault is a negotiating position, not a legal ruling. An experienced attorney can challenge and often significantly reduce the fault assigned to you.
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