Yes, they can file. Anyone can file a lawsuit, and in California, a driver who was mostly to blame can still recover part of their damages from you.
That surprises most people. There are real limits, though, and one of them may already be working in your favor. A San Luis Obispo car accident lawyer can tell you what you are actually exposed to.
Why can a driver who caused the crash still sue you?
Because California uses pure comparative negligence. There is no cutoff. A driver found 80% at fault can still recover 20% of their damages, and the same rule works for you if you were hurt too.
California courts adopted it in 1975. Before that, a driver who contributed to their own injury recovered nothing. Pure means there is no threshold. Fault gets split by percentage, and each side’s recovery drops by their own share.
So if the other driver is 85% at fault and you are 15%, they owe 85% of your damages and you owe 15% of theirs. In shared-fault car crashes, those claims usually get settled against each other. Filing is also not winning.
Can an at-fault driver actually recover money in California?
Sometimes. Their medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering can all be in play, reduced by their own percentage of fault.
It is less common than it sounds. When one driver carries most of the blame, what is left after the reduction is rarely worth a lawsuit.
What happens if the driver suing you was uninsured?
Their claim shrinks, sometimes a great deal. Under Proposition 213, a driver who was uninsured at the time of an auto accident generally cannot recover non-economic damages at all. No pain and suffering. Only economic losses, like medical bills and lost wages.
The same bar applies to a driver convicted of drunk driving for that crash.
One exception runs the other way. If the uninsured driver was hurt by someone convicted of drunk driving, the bar lifts and their non-economic damages come back.
Who defends you if you get sued after a car accident?
Your insurance company does, in most cases. A liability policy carries a duty to defend. That means after an accident, your insurance company hires and pays for a lawyer to represent you, separate from anything it may pay out later.
Report the claim as soon as you are served, or sooner if you think one is coming. Late notice is one of the few things that can put your insurance coverage at risk.
A car accident attorney can also work on the fault percentages. That is where these cases are won or lost. Police reports, medical bills, photographs, and witness accounts all feed into how the split gets argued.
How long does the other driver have to sue you?
Two years from the crash for an injury claim, under California’s deadline for injury actions. Property damage alone gets three years. Once those run out, the claim is generally gone.
Facing a claim after a crash? Talk to Ernst Law Group
Being told you may be sued over a crash you were only partly responsible for is frightening. Most people in that position are working from worse information than the law actually gives them.
A personal injury attorney at this law firm can look at the fault split and your insurance coverage and tell you where you stand. If you share fault for the accident, a personal injury lawyer can argue that percentage down. To request a free consultation, reach out to us online or call (805) 541-0300.