No, it does not automatically wreck your claim.

If you were driving through Roswell and another driver blasted into the side of your car, the fact that you were going a little over the limit is not some magic get-out-of-liability card for them. New Mexico uses pure comparative negligence. That means fault can be split.

So if a jury decides you were 20% at fault because you were speeding on North Main or coming through an intersection off 2nd Street too fast, and the other driver was 80% at fault for running a light or failing to yield, you can still recover 80% of your damages.

That part matters.

The ugly part is the missing medical records.

Why incomplete records are a real problem

A broken leg and shattered kneecap are not subtle injuries. If you got taken by ambulance to Eastern New Mexico Medical Center after a T-bone crash, there is going to be imaging, ER documentation, nursing notes, discharge papers, maybe surgical records.

But the treating doctor's chart is often where the insurance fight turns nasty.

That chart should explain diagnosis, treatment plan, restrictions, pain complaints, whether you can stand for long periods, whether you need follow-up care, and how the crash caused the injury. For a retail employee in Roswell, that stuff is huge. If you work on your feet at a store near Main Street, lifting stock, climbing step stools, dealing with long shifts, a shattered kneecap is a work-life wrecking ball.

If those records are missing, thin, or half-assed, the insurer will say your injury is exaggerated, your limitations are unclear, or your recovery wasn't that serious.

They'll also try this move: sure, you broke your leg, but they'll argue the ongoing pain, limp, instability, or inability to return to retail work is not documented well enough to pay full value.

Missing records do not erase the crash

Here's what most people don't realize: one doctor's missing chart is not the whole case.

A strong claim can be rebuilt from other evidence if the treatment actually happened and the injuries are real.

What usually helps:

• ER records, X-rays, CT scans, MRI reports, surgery records, physical therapy notes, work restriction slips, pharmacy records, employer attendance records, and your own timeline of appointments and symptoms

If your kneecap was shattered, imaging matters a lot. Radiology doesn't forget. Neither does an operative report if hardware was placed. Those records are often cleaner and more persuasive than a rushed office note from a follow-up visit.

Physical therapy notes can also be gold. Therapists document range of motion, gait problems, pain with standing, stairs, squatting, and whether you can bear weight. For a store employee, that directly ties into lost earning power.

Roswell-specific proof matters more than people think

If the crash happened at a busy Roswell intersection, the location helps tell the story. A T-bone crash on South Main, near West Hobbs, or coming off US 285 is different from a low-speed parking lot tap.

Photos of the vehicle damage matter. Side-impact crush to the driver's door says a lot.

So do 911 recordings, police diagrams, and witness statements about the light sequence.

Spring in New Mexico can make crash investigations messy too. High winds and dust don't just hit I-25 and I-10. They can blow through Chaves County and cut visibility fast. If weather played any part, that should be documented early, because insurers love blaming "conditions" when a driver simply screwed up.

The speeding issue is not the killer the adjuster wants it to be

Insurance companies lean hard on guilt.

You admit you were speeding a little, and suddenly they act like none of this would have happened otherwise. That is bullshit unless the evidence actually supports it.

In a T-bone crash, the central question is usually who had the right of way and who entered the intersection when it wasn't safe. Speed can affect the numbers. It does not automatically shift the main blame away from the driver who slammed into the side of your car.

And in New Mexico, there's no cap on non-economic damages in a standard auto injury case like this. Pain, loss of normal movement, the misery of surgeries, the limp, the months of not being able to stand at a register or stock shelves - that value is not artificially capped just because the defense wants a discount.

What to do when the chart is incomplete

Ask for the full file from every provider, not just the office summary.

Compare dates. A lot of "missing records" are really records sent to the wrong portal, unsigned notes, or imaging stored separately from the clinic chart.

If your treating doctor wrote almost nothing useful, another doctor can still review the imaging, exam findings, and treatment history and explain what a broken leg and shattered kneecap typically do to a person who works retail on their feet all day.

That kind of gap-filling is often what keeps an insurer from pretending your case is worth pennies.