![]() This might come into play in a drunk driving case, for example, with a grossly negligent intoxicated driver traveling significantly over the speed limit. In essence, it means that if the defendant intentionally fails to exercise reasonable care-or in other words, acted with reckless disregard-then your own negligence won’t bar you from recovery. If the defendant’s willful or wanton conduct caused your injuries, then the defendant can’t claim contributory negligence. There are a few ways you can overcome a contributory negligence defense in court. While contributory negligence remains a harsh system, North Carolina law does provide some exceptions to this standard to reduce the likelihood of an excessively unjust ruling against an injured party. If contributory negligence sounds like a terrible deal for injury victims compared to comparative fault, that’s because it is. Unfortunately, since the system of negligence that applies to your case depends on the jurisdiction where you suffered your injuries, there’s nothing you can do about it. ![]() The other 46 states all apply comparative fault to some degree. Which theory the courts apply varies from state to state. Only five jurisdictions use the pure contributory negligence rule: Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Even if the accident was 99 percent the defendant’s fault and only 1 percent the plaintiff’s fault, the plaintiff’s contributory negligence bars them from any right to compensation. With contributory negligence (which is technically called “pure contributory negligence”), the plaintiff can’t recover anything if they were even slightly at fault for their injuries. In other words, if the defendant was 50 percent responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries, then the plaintiff can recover up to 50 percent of the total damages. With comparative fault, the plaintiff (the injured victim in a personal injury case) can receive compensation from a lawsuit based on what percent the defendant was at fault. Now that we know what negligence means in a legal sense, let’s talk about the “contributory” part. There are two options for how courts proceed once they determine who is at fault for an accident or injury in a personal injury lawsuit. Instead, it’s up to judges and juries to decide what actions are reasonable in a specific circumstance. Everyone has their own reasons and motivations for their actions, and there is no magic handbook that tells us exactly what constitutes “reasonable” behavior in every situation. Such failure caused (directly or indirectly) injury to the plaintiff.Īlthough this sounds simple on paper, it’s not always straightforward to decide which actions constitute negligence. ![]() They failed to do so-and thus acted negligently. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |