Many personal injury cases in California are based on negligence, including car accidents, slip and fall claims, and wrongful death. You have to prove that the other party was negligent in recovering your damages. In some cases, the doctrine of negligence per se may help prove your case. our skilled los angeles personal injury attorney Use all resources available to you to recover the compensation you are entitled to after you have been harmed by another party.
proving negligence for a personal injury claim
Negligence Occurs when a party fails to take care to avoid causing injury or harm to a person. The level of care used by the person is based on the “reasonable person” standard.”
Jurors decide what a person of ordinary prudence would have done in the same or similar situation. If a party’s conduct falls short of that standard, jurors may find that person was negligent. However, you must also prove that the party’s conduct caused you injury and caused you loss.
Let’s use a car accident as an example. The legal elements of a negligence claim are:
- Duty of care – You owe a legal duty of care to the party who has caused you injury.
- Breach of duty – The actions or omissions of the party breached the duty.
- Causation – The conduct of the party was the direct and proximate cause of your injury.
- Damages – The loss you suffered because of the party’s breach of duty.
a driver has a legal duty to obey california traffic laws And take proper steps to avoid traffic accident. Running a red light or driving while intoxicated can be considered a breach of duty. A reasonable person would know that these actions could result in a car accident.
However, you have to go a step further to prove negligence. You must prove that the driver’s conduct caused the traffic accident. For example, a drunk driver may be involved in an accident that he did not commit. However, if the drunk driver was driving in the wrong lane, their actions became the cause of the accident.
Finally, you have to prove that you suffered damages. Damages include physical injuries and economic losses, such as lost wages and medical bills. You can also get compensation for non-economic damages, which reflect your pain and suffering.
How is per se negligence used in a personal injury case?
Rebuttable presumption that a party has breached a duty of care and is thus negligent. It shifts the burden of proof onto the defendant to prove that they were not negligent.
For negligence to apply, the person must have violated a law designed to protect people from harm. For example, California’s DUI law protects people from being injured in DUI accidents. Therefore, if a drunk driver causes an accident, he is considered negligent.
The injured party would only need to prove that the driver’s actions were a direct and proximate cause of their injuries and that they suffered damages. Otherwise, it is the onus of the drunk driver to prove that he was not negligent as a matter of law.
Per se negligence can be helpful in cases involving circumstantial evidence. The defendant has the burden of presenting evidence that convinces the jury that they were not negligent.
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