Negligence is when someone’s being careless, and it ends up causing harm to someone else. Like, if you’re walking around and not paying attention, and you knock into someone, causing them to fall, that’s negligence.
You didn’t mean to hurt them, but you weren’t careful enough. If you’re curious about how this all works, you might want to check out the basic principle of negligence to get the full picture.
When this happens, the person who got hurt might be able to get some kind of compensation for what happened because someone else was careless. There’s a certain level of care expected in different situations. For example, when you’re driving, you’re expected to be extra careful. If you’re not, and someone gets hurt, that’s negligence.
Principles of Negligence
Here are some of the basic principles needed to prove negligence.
Duty of care
Everyone has a “duty of care,” which basically means it’s your job to not hurt people. For drivers, that means following traffic laws and driving safely. But this goes for anyone; it’s just about being careful in general. You should act like a normal, responsible person would.
Causation
Negligence is when someone’s careless actions cause harm to another person. To prove negligence, you need to show that the person had a duty to be careful, they broke that duty, and their actions directly caused the injury.
This is where causation comes in. Causation means showing that the injury happened because of the person’s actions and that it could have been expected.
Damages
You need to show that you actually got hurt because of their mistake. This is where damages come in. Damages are what you get as compensation for the harm or injury you suffered. If no one got hurt, there’s no reason to ask for money.
Damages can be things like medical bills or even the pain you went through. If you get into an accident because someone wasn’t paying attention, you might be able to get money for your doctor’s bills or for the time you missed from school.
What is Negligence Per Se?
Negligence per se is a bit different, but it’s still related to negligence. It happens when someone breaks a specific law that’s meant to protect the public from harm, and that law-breaking directly causes an injury.
So, in negligence per se, the focus is on the fact that the person violated a law that was created to keep everyone safe. For example, if a driver runs a red light and causes a crash, they’ve violated a traffic law meant to protect everyone on the road, making it easier to prove they were negligent.
In negligence per se cases, you don’t have to argue whether the person was being careful or not since they broke the law; it’s already assumed that they were negligent. This can make things a lot simpler when it comes to getting compensation for injuries.
But it’s important to note that not every law violation counts as negligence per se. For example, if a driver doesn’t have car insurance and causes an accident, it doesn’t automatically mean negligence per se because not having insurance didn’t directly cause the crash.
Principles of Negligence Per Se
Here are some of the basic principles needed to prove negligence per se.
Presumption of negligence
Once you show that someone broke the law, it’s automatically assumed they were being negligent. You don’t need to argue whether their actions were careless or not. If they broke a law that’s there to protect people and that caused harm, it’s pretty clear they were negligent.
Violation must cause harm
This means that the person’s carelessness has to actually lead to an injury or damage. If no one gets hurt, then it’s not negligence, even if someone was careless.
Final Thoughts
Negligence and negligence per se are important legal concepts that help determine accountability when someone gets hurt due to another’s actions. While negligence requires proving carelessness, negligence per se simplifies this by focusing on violations of specific laws meant to protect people. Understanding these principles is crucial, whether you’re dealing with an accident or just trying to be more informed about legal responsibilities.
If you’re ever in a situation where these principles might apply, seeking legal guidance can make a big difference in navigating the complexities and ensuring your rights are protected.
