CIVIL LAW 3.4 NEGLIGENCE

Elements of Negligence  Duty: a legal obligation  Breach of Duty: violation of a duty, either by engaging in an action or failing to act  Causation: the reason an event occurs; that which produces an effect  Damages: the injuries or losses suffered by one person due to the fault of another

Reasonable Person Standard  Civil law involves the “reasonable person”: someone who is an idealized version of the average individual.  If you do not behave the way the “reasonable person” would, you have breached a duty.  The “reasonable person” balances the likelihood and seriousness of harm against the burden of avoiding the harm.

Causation  There must be proof that the defendant’s acts caused the harm to the plaintiff.  Cause in fact: the plaintiff must prove he or she would not have been harmed if the defendant had not acted wrongfully  Ex: Automobile Accident  Proximate cause: the harm caused must have been the foreseeable act of the defendant’s wrongful acts

Summers V Tice  In that case, two hunters negligently fired their shotguns in the direction of their guide, and a pellet lodged in his eye. Because it was impossible to tell which hunter fired the shot that caused the injury, the court held both hunters liable.

Example…  A speeding driver collided with a truck carrying explosives.  Upon impact, the truck exploded and caused a traffic light to collapse a mile away, which injured a bystander.

Here, the speeding driver most likely won’t be held liable for the bystander’s injuries- it is highly unforeseeable that their injury would result from the collision. However, the speeding driver might be liable for injuries caused to the truck driver.