Another driver hit your car in Alabama — what happens now?

Attorney Answer

The first thing to understand about an Alabama claim is that your own conduct can end it entirely, not just reduce it.

Alabama is one of a handful of states that still applies contributory negligence, and it changes everything about a claim here. If the person claiming is found to have been negligent themselves, and that negligence helped cause the injury, they recover nothing — not a reduced amount, nothing. There is no apportionment and no percentage.

Two things soften that, and both matter.

It is a defense the other side has to prove. Contributory negligence is an affirmative defense, so the burden is on the defendant to establish it rather than on the claimant to disprove it. And it is not established simply by showing carelessness: the defendant generally has to show the claimant knew of the danger, appreciated it, and failed to take reasonable care anyway. Alabama's courts have said that simple heedlessness is not enough, and that it is normally a question for a jury rather than something decided as a matter of law.

And it is no defense at all to wanton conduct. Where the other party's behavior goes beyond ordinary negligence to wantonness, contributory negligence does not bar the claim. That makes how the other driver's conduct is characterized one of the most consequential questions in an Alabama case.

Beyond that, a straightforward collision claim is built the ordinary way: what each driver did, what each could see, the speeds and positions, and what the damage shows. Where a rear-end impact is involved, Ala. Code § 32-5A-89(a) sets the standard, and Alabama puts a number on it where most states do not:

The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of such vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway. Except when overtaking and passing another vehicle, the driver of a vehicle shall leave a distance of at least 20 feet for each 10 miles per hour of speed between the vehicle that he or she is driving and the vehicle that he or she is following.

Twenty feet for every ten miles per hour is 120 feet at 60 mph. It is a concrete duty — but a breach of it is evidence of negligence, not an automatic answer, and being struck from behind does not by itself decide fault.

The other half is the paperwork. Report the collision to your own insurer whether or not you intend to claim on your policy — most policies require prompt notice and that duty does not wait for a demand. Get the crash report when it is filed, and keep every medical record from the beginning rather than from the point the injury became inconvenient.

What you can do

1. Get the crash report and read what the officer recorded about each driver. 2. Photograph both vehicles and the scene before anything is repaired or moved. 3. Tell your own insurer promptly, whether or not you plan to claim on your own policy. 4. See a doctor early if you are hurt at all — a gap between the collision and the first record is what insurers argue about. 5. Speak to an Alabama attorney before giving the other insurer a recorded statement.

⏱ Time limits apply. Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l) gives two years: “all actions for any injury to the person or rights of another not arising from contract and not specifically enumerated in this section must be brought within two years.” Evidence goes sooner — footage is overwritten and memories fade — so the practical deadline is usually much earlier than the legal one.

An Alabama attorney can tell you quickly how the facts here line up, and most will look at a matter like this at no cost.