According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 7,000 personal injury lawsuits had been reported in state courts among the world’s most populous counties as of 2005. The major cause of these personal injury cases is negligence.
Contributory negligence is a legal term that gives an enormous influence on a personal injury lawsuit. Thus, understanding what it is about can be helpful if ever you will be involved in such circumstance.
Contributory negligence and its meaning
To fully understand what contributory negligence is, defining the word “negligence” should be done first. Negligence is an essential concept in personal injury cases. In a personal injury lawsuit, the court will examine whether negligence is present in a particular occurrence. Negligence, in legal terms, is perceived as any behavior that fails to act reasonably. This means that negligence occurs when a person does not show the same response as what an ordinary and reasonable person would do under the same situation. Although, the act of negligence cannot be fully measured since no constitution formally states the right and reasonable behavior in a certain circumstance. Instead, the juries and the judges will be left to consider what actions is reasonable in that specific circumstance.
In general, contributory negligence is a legal concept that describes a behavior of those injured individuals that contributed to their own physical harm and damage. The manner of negligence that you displayed would be assessed and may lead to the reduction of the compensation you are supposed to obtain. In some courts, you will be prevented from getting your compensation by the underlying state if found that you have caused your own injury. If involved in a contributory negligence lawsuit, seeking the advice of Miami personal injury lawyers who have experience with contributory negligence claims is essential.
Contributory negligence and its influence on personal injury lawsuits
Under common law, contributory negligence is considered as a defense towards a complete and absolute bar to recovery. A contributory negligence defense can only be regarded as a key to recovery if the injury is due to the proximate cause. If the injury sustained is deemed as a result of an unanticipated occurrence, the plaintiff’s contributory negligence will be regarded as a behavior too remote to secure a compensation.
The concept of contributory negligence is to characterize behaviors and actions that result in unreasonable risks and damages to one’s self. The law revolves around a view that people should conform to act as responsible and prudent individuals. A person who violates this conformity and leads harm to their own self and to other individuals will be held accountable for the obtained injury. The court will examine whether the person should be partially or entirely liable for the damage. In other words, under contributory negligence, both the plaintiff and the defendant have no right to any amount of compensation since both parties contribute to their injuries.
Ending Note
Not all jurisdictions still consider contributory negligence in personal injury cases. Most of them follow a negligence theory referred to as comparative negligence. Under comparative negligence, a plaintiff can obtain compensation for the injuries sustained depending on the percentage of the defendant’s fault for the injuries. Many jurisdictions moved on from the defense of contributory negligence since it tends to be harsh towards injured and harmed victims. Though, there are still some jurisdictions that follow pure contributory negligence.