How Is Negligence Defined In A Personal Injury Case?
You’ll learn why the concept of negligence defines many personal injury cases. You’ll also learn how to prove that the at-fault party was negligent. Personal injury cases are vast and cover all kinds of accidents. These range from car accidents to slip and falls in commercial buildings or in private residences. If you ever have to bring a personal injury case to court, you should know that your chances of winning a settlement largely depend on proving the negligence and guilt of the other party. You’ll learn what this means, if you need to hire a personal injury lawyer in Monrovia, and how to prove the other party’s negligence.
The fundamentals of the concept of negligence
A person is negligent when he or she doesn’t exercise the standard of care that is expected of him or her in a particular situation. A person can be negligent in many ways including:
● Engaging in behavior that a reasonable person in the same situation would not
● Not doing something in a particular situation that a reasonable person would do
Negligence happens all of the time. It includes car accidents, business dealings, providing medical care, making products, maintaining properties. If you have been injured because of another person’s negligence, the law allows you to file a personal injury lawsuit against that person. If you want to win a personal injury lawsuit, you and your personal injury lawyer in Encinitas must prove:
● The defendant was required by law to use a reasonable duty of care in his or her actions towards you
● The defendant failed to use the same degree of duty of care that a reasonable person would in the same situation.
● The defendant’s actions of lack of them is what caused your personal injuries.
These premises are analyzed in more detail below:
“To prevail in a negligence case, a plaintiff must also show that the defendant’s negligence caused the injuries being complained of. As part of this analysis, courts look to whether the defendant could reasonably foresee the injuries caused in the accident.”
The defendant had a legal duty to the plaintiff
Generally speaking, the law requires everyone to exercise a reasonable care of duty towards others. Some exceptions occur. The courts have ruled that the degree of care rule does not always apply when two factors are involved:
● Whether or not the defendant could foresee the injury
● If imposing duty of care on the defendant would be fair in a particular situation.
The Defendant did not act the same way that a reasonable person in the same situation would have
The law defines degree of care in particular situations as ‘standard of care.’ While the defendant is held to the same standard of care that a reasonable person would in the same situation, some exceptions apply. These are based on the defendant’s personality and education/other qualifications.
A good example is this: the courts will determine if a teenager is guilty in a personal injury case based on the ways in which a reasonable teenager of his or her age would have acted in the same situation. Legal statutes can define some ‘standards of care.’ For example, if a person drives 50 miles an hour during a school zone when the standard speed is 20 miles an hour, the courts will hold him or her guilty of any accidents and/or property damage that he or she causes.