Fault comes down to negligence: who failed to use reasonable care and caused the crash. That gets pieced together from the evidence, not from whoever yells loudest at the scene.
In practice, the people deciding fault look at the police or traffic collision report, photos of the vehicles and the road, skid marks and debris, statements from you and any witnesses, and sometimes video from a nearby business or a doorbell camera. Every driver in California has a duty to drive with reasonable care, and breaking a traffic law, running a red light, following too close, texting behind the wheel, is strong evidence that someone breached that duty.
Here is the part people miss. California is a pure comparative fault state. More than one person can share the blame, and being partly at fault does not shut you out. It reduces what you can recover by your percentage of fault. So if a claim is worth a certain amount and you were found partly responsible, your recovery drops by that share, but it does not disappear.
Insurance adjusters make their own fault calls, and they are not neutral. They work for the insurer, and pinning more blame on you saves them money. That is where having your own attorney matters, whether the crash was a straightforward car accident, a truck accident, or a motorcycle accident where riders often get blamed unfairly.
This is general information, not legal advice, and every case turns on its own facts.
Talk it through with Joe Crudo. Call (858) 622-7280 or reach us through the contact page for a free, confidential consultation.