You might, even though texting and driving is illegal in Washington. You will still have a claim as long as the defendant was also at fault, but your damages will be reduced. When two or more parties are at fault for an accident, Washington applies a “pure contributory fault” rule, in which an accident victim who shares fault with the defendant will see damages reduced in exact proportion to the percentage of fault as assigned by the court.
For instance, if the court decides that your damages were $100,000 but you were 25 percent at fault, it will subtract $25,000 from your damages, leaving you with a recovery of $75,000. If you were 99 percent at fault, the court will subtract $99,000 from your damages, leaving you with only $1,000. Keep in mind that this means that the defendant can file a counterclaim against you, even if he or she was mostly at fault for the accident.