Accidents happen, and in some cases, accidents are caused by someone else’s negligence. When a person fails to use a reasonable level of care in a situation, and injuries result, that person can be held responsible for negligence. In a personal injury case, negligence must be proven before an accident victim can be required to pay damages.
If you seek compensation for medical bills, lost pay, property damages, and other costs due to an accident, proving negligence is critical to your financial recovery. An experienced San Diego personal injury lawyer can help you prove negligence and maximize your financial compensation after a serious accident. To learn more about negligence, schedule a free consultation today.
Elements of Negligence in a Personal Injury Claim
Negligence in a personal injury case is proven through four separate elements. When each element is proven, a defendant can be found negligent.
The elements of negligence are:
- Duty of care. In certain situations, people owe a duty of care to others. The duty can vary based on the circumstances. A driver owes a duty of care to other drivers, for example, to follow traffic laws and drive safely.
- Breach of duty. If a person fails to exercise reasonable caution for others in line with their duty of care, they have breached their duty and could be responsible for what happens as a result.
- Causation. There must be a causal link between a negligent party’s actions (or failure to act) and your injuries.
- Damages. Actual damages, such as medical bills, lost income, out-of-pocket costs, and other types of losses must result from the accident to pursue a negligence claim.
Below is a breakdown of what each of these elements means and how they are proven.
What Is Duty of Care and When Does It Apply?
Duty is the first element to prove in a negligence claim. As the plaintiff in a personal injury case, you’ll need to establish that the person responsible for your injury owed a duty of care to you. Duty is an obligation that is set either by customary practices or legal requirements. Essentially, duty of care means acting in a way that avoids putting others at risk of danger.
Duty of care can be different depending on the situation. Drivers owe certain duties of care to other drivers, just as doctors owe a duty of care to their patients or shop owners owe duties of care to their customers. In general, people must act as a “reasonable person” would have under the circumstances. When analyzing duty of care, courts will ask whether a defendant’s actions (or lack of action) were reasonable or unreasonable, given all of the facts involved.
Duty of care applies in most public situations, and when there is some relationship between the defendant and plaintiff (such as doctor-patient or business-invitee).
What Is Breach of Duty?
Breach is the second element of negligence in a personal injury claim. A breach occurs when a duty of care existed to begin with, and the defendant failed to follow their duty of care. A person can breach their duty through an action (such as running a red light) or inaction (such as failing to clean up a hazardous spill in a hallway).
Breach can be simple to prove in some instances and more complex in others. In a medical malpractice case, for example, your lawyer might need expert testimony from other doctors to explain what a reasonable doctor should have done in your case.
What Is Causation in a Negligence Claim?
Often, the most important and highly contested element of a negligence claim will be causation. There must be a connection between the defendant’s breach of duty and your injuries. Without proof of this, the negligence claim fails. You will be required to prove that the defendant’s acts were the direct and proximate cause of the injuries you suffered.
Sometimes known as “cause in fact,” the causation element asks the question: would you have been uninjured but for something the defendant did or didn’t do? Your injuries must have been a reasonable and foreseeable consequence of the at-fault party’s conduct.
In a car accident case, for example, when a driver runs a red light and hits your car directly, causation would be easy to prove. After all, the other driver directly caused your injuries. However, let’s say the driver ran a red light as a different driver entered the intersection while looking at their phone, and a multi-car accident ensued, and you were hurt.
Who, then, is to blame for your injuries? Causation can be more complex in that situation. Whether causation seems simple or complicated to prove, an experienced personal injury lawyer can help.
What Are Damages in a Negligence Claim?
The final element of a negligence claim is damages. You’ll need to prove that you actually suffered bodily harm, property damage, emotional distress, or other forms of damages in a personal injury claim. Even if you can prove the first three elements of negligence, you need damages to take action on the claim.
Damages can include economic damages, such as medical bills, lost pay, reduced future earnings, property loss, out-of-pocket expenses, and other actual costs.
Non-economic damages in a negligence claim can include pain and suffering, mental distress, loss of companionship, and other losses that are more difficult to quantify in dollar figures. Experienced personal injury attorneys in San Diego, CA can help you prove non-economic damages in your case.
A San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You Prove Negligence
If you or a loved one were injured in an accident in San Diego, CA, you could have the legal right to pursue a claim for negligence. Proving negligence in a personal injury case involves several steps and factors. Call a knowledgeable personal injury lawyer to learn more and schedule your free consultation.