How Pennsylvania’s Comparative Negligence Rule Plays Out in Real Lehigh Valley Accident Cases

If you were injured in a crash in Allentown, Easton, Bethlehem, or anywhere in Lehigh Valley, one of the first questions an insurance company will ask is: Were you partly to blame? In Pennsylvania, that question matters a great deal. The state follows a rule called comparative negligence, and it determines whether you can recover any money at all, and how much.

The basic idea is this: if you share some of the blame for an accident, the amount of money you can recover is reduced by your share of the blame. But there is a hard cutoff. If you are found to be more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover anything under Pennsylvania law. Not a dollar.

Insurance companies often try to shift as much of the blame onto you as possible, making it all the more important to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney, like the Allentown team at Munley Law, who can protect your interests.

How Blame Gets Divided After an Accident

When someone files a personal injury claim in Pennsylvania, a jury determines how much each person is responsible. They do this by assigning percentages. The injured person might be found 20% at fault. The driver who hit them might be found 80% at fault.

Those numbers directly affect the payout. Say a jury decides you deserve $100,000 for your injuries.

• If you were 20% at fault, you receive $80,000
• If you were 30% at fault, you receive $70,000
• But if the jury finds you were 51% at fault, you receive nothing, even if the other driver was clearly reckless.

The difference between 49% and 51% is crucial; it determines whether you receive meaningful compensation for your injury or walk away empty-handed. This fine line explains why insurance companies aggressively attempt to increase your percentage of fault.

What Insurance Companies Do After a Crash

Insurance adjusters, the people who work for the other driver’s insurance company, know this rule, too. Their job is to pay out as little as possible, and one way to do that is to collect evidence early that can be used to argue you were mostly at fault.

They may point to your recorded statement, the position of your car after the crash, whether your phone was in the car, or whether witnesses say you were going too fast. None of these things automatically makes you responsible, but they can all be used to argue your share of blame should be higher. This is where the Allentown personal injury attorneys at Munley Law can help.

When a Truck Is Involved, Multiple Companies May Share the Blame

Crashes involving tractor-trailers, which are common on I-78 near Allentown, are more complicated than a two-car accident. It is not just the truck driver who may be responsible; other parties might share responsibility. This includes:

• The trucking company that employs them
• The company that loaded the cargo
• The company that maintained the truck

Pennsylvania law states that when multiple parties are at fault, each one only pays their share. So if the trucking company is found 40% responsible, they pay 40% of what you are owed. If a liable party cannot pay their portion, you may not automatically be able to collect that share from the others.

There is an important exception: if one party is found to be 60% or more at fault, they can be required to pay the full amount. This often matters whether the trucking company itself acted irresponsibly, for example, by forcing drivers to work longer hours than the law allows, or by skipping required safety inspections.

How This Rule Plays Out in Three Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: A Crash During a Lane Merge on I-78

Suppose you changed lanes on I-78 near the Route 309 interchange and a truck hit you. The trucking company’s lawyer argues you did not signal. Your attorney argues the truck driver was not paying attention and was going too fast for the traffic conditions. A jury will weigh both sides and assign a percentage of fault to each.

Whether your percentage lands at 30 or 45 makes a real dollar difference. On a $300,000 damages award, the gap between those two numbers is $45,000. Speed data recorded by the truck’s computer and the driver’s hours logs are often key evidence in these disputes. A lawyer at Munley Law’s Allentown location can help ensure you collect the proper evidence to make your case.

Scenario 2: A Pedestrian Hit on a Lehigh Valley Street

If you were struck by a car while crossing a street in Allentown, the driver may try to argue that you crossed in the wrong place or were not paying attention. Even if that is partially true, it does not necessarily stop you from recovering compensation. Under Pennsylvania law, drivers are required to watch for pedestrians in their path regardless of where they are crossing.

A pedestrian found 25% at fault in a $400,000 case still recovers $300,000. At 51%, they recover nothing. Surveillance video from nearby businesses, which is often only kept for a short time before being deleted, can be critical in establishing what actually happened.

Scenario 3: A Pileup Involving Multiple Vehicles

Multi-car crashes on congested stretches of I-78 can involve several drivers, each with their own insurance company and attorney. Each party’s share of fault is calculated separately. If you were found 15% at fault, you recover 85% of your damages, collected from the other parties based on their individual shares.

Getting all potentially responsible parties identified from the beginning is important for making sure you are not left short after a car accident.

Common Questions About Lehigh Valley Accident Cases

Does this rule apply to all accidents, or just car crashes?

It applies to any personal injury claim in Pennsylvania, including slip and fall accidents, pedestrian injuries, bicycle crashes, and truck accidents. If someone else’s negligence caused your injury, and you may have played some role too, this rule will likely come into play.

The police report says I was partially at fault. Can I still make a claim?

Yes. A police report is one officer’s observations at the scene. It is not the final word on who was legally responsible. Attorneys, accident reconstruction experts, and witnesses can all present evidence that tells a different story. Many successful injury cases involve clients who were initially listed as partially at fault in the police report.  Successfully resolving an injury case often involves presenting evidence that offers a different perspective. Many clients who were initially identified as partially at fault in the police report have gone on to win their injury cases.

What if the truck driver was an independent contractor?

Trucking companies sometimes classify their drivers as independent contractors to limit their own liability. Pennsylvania courts look past the label and examine how much control the company actually had over the driver’s work. If the company controlled the driver’s route, schedule, and equipment, the company may still be held responsible, regardless of what their contract says.

Protect Your Right to Compensation in Allentown and the Lehigh Valley

If you’ve been injured in Allentown or anywhere in the Lehigh Valley, don’t let an insurance company decide your share of the blame or your financial future, especially when the difference between 49% and 51% fault can mean everything. The Allentown attorneys at Munley Law know how these cases play out locally, from I-78 crashes to pedestrian accidents on Hamilton Street, and have what it takes to preserve key evidence, push back against unfair fault claims, and fight for the compensation you deserve. If you or a loved one has been hurt, contact Munley Law today for a free consultation and clear guidance on your next steps.

Munley Law Allentown
609 Hamilton St.
Allentown, PA 18101
(610) 857-7424