A traffic citation does not automatically decide fault in an Oklahoma City car accident. Insurers, judges, and juries weigh the citation alongside the crash evidence, and under Oklahoma’s comparative negligence law, 23 O.S. § 13, you can still recover damages unless your share of fault exceeds 50 percent.
Traffic Violations and Fault in Your Oklahoma City Car Accident Case
The most common citations we see contributing to Oklahoma City crashes are speeding, running a red light, following too closely, and driving under the influence. A citation can support a negligence claim, but insurance adjusters, judges, and juries look at the full details of the crash rather than the ticket alone. When the at-fault driver was cited, settlement talks often move faster: instead of arguing over who caused the wreck, the conversation shifts to what harm the wreck caused.
Does a Citation Automatically Decide Fault?
No. Receiving a citation does not by itself establish fault in an Oklahoma car accident case. Officers issue citations based on their on-scene investigation, witness statements, and physical evidence, but a citation is only one piece of the fault picture an insurer or jury will weigh. Oklahoma’s Department of Public Safety also tracks moving violations through Oklahoma’s driver’s license point system. That system is separate from any civil fault determination: DPS points affect your driving privileges, not who pays for the crash.
How a Violation Affects Your Compensation
Oklahoma follows a comparative negligence rule: your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. You are barred from recovering only if your fault exceeds 50 percent, per that section and 23 O.S. § 14. At exactly 50 percent fault, you can still recover a reduced award, just cut proportionally. (The full text of Oklahoma’s comparative negligence statute is publicly available if you want to read the exact language.) A cited violation, such as speeding or following too closely, is evidence an insurer may use to argue you share part of that fault, and a violation can also raise your own insurance premiums going forward.
Proving a Traffic Violation Without a Citation
The police accident report itself is generally not admissible in court under Oklahoma’s hearsay rule, which is one reason a police report alone rarely wins a car accident claim. Witness statements, dashcam or traffic-camera video, and physical evidence at the scene often matter more. A few sources of proof come up often in these cases:
- Walker v. Forrester (1988 OK 102): paying a traffic fine without pleading guilty is not admissible as evidence of fault.
- 12 O.S. § 2803(22): this hearsay exception allows evidence of a conviction punishable by more than a year in prison to help prove liability.
- Zumwalt v. Moran (1953 OK 223): a guilty plea to a reckless driving charge tied to the crash is admissible in the related civil case.
If the report lists an unknown cause or leaves out a violation you believe occurred, an accident reconstruction analysis of the crash scene can help fill the gap. It uses skid marks, vehicle damage, and other physical evidence to establish what happened, even without a citation or eyewitnesses.
Defending an Unjustified Traffic Citation
If you were cited after a crash you believe was not your fault, the citation itself does not decide your civil case, but it can complicate settlement talks. A traffic ticket attorney handles the criminal citation in traffic court, while your injury claim proceeds separately. Related impairment issues, including bar and restaurant liability in an Oklahoma drunk driving crash, can also factor into who is responsible for the wreck.
How Your Driving Record Affects a Personal Injury Claim
A pattern of past violations can hurt your credibility with an insurer or jury, who may see it as evidence of habitual negligence. Oklahoma driving records are generally kept for three years, so citations within that window can still surface in your case. If the other driver has a history of citations or wrecks, that record may become evidence of a bad driving record in a related civil suit, separate from any citation issued in your own crash.
If a traffic violation is complicating your Oklahoma City car accident claim, Hasbrook & Hasbrook can help you sort out what the citation does and does not prove. Call 405-605-2426 for a free consultation.
