What is negligence?
We hear legal terminology all of the time- in the news and the media, and in general discussion. But what do those terms actually mean? If you have ever been involved in a car accident (and who in Los Angeles hasn’t at least had a close call?), you may have heard the term “negligence,” which is usually brought up when discussing fault and liability for damages. Negligence refers to conduct which falls outside the reasonable standards of behavior as defined by the law. A person has acted negligently if he or she has departed from the conduct expected of a reasonably prudent person acting under similar circumstances. That’s the legal definition. In order to gain a better understanding of what that means, an illustrative example may help. If a claim goes to court and you wish to prove negligence, you have to show that the defendant had a duty towards you, that the defendant breached that duty by not conforming to the required standard of conduct, the cause of the harm suffered by you was the defendant’s negligent conduct, and that you actually suffered harm.
Let’s say you are driving your car. You are in the middle lane on a three lane road, and you need to switch lanes over to your right. You check your rearview mirror, your side mirror, and take a peek over your shoulder. All is clear. As you start to merge over to the right, a car from one lane over to your left tries to merge into the same lane as you, without realizing that you are occupying the space. It swerves right into your driver’s side door, causing both of you to smash the passenger side of your cars into a wall.
And here, perfectly illustrated, is an example of a negligent driver. The driver owed you a duty of reasonable conduct while driving. The reasonable conduct, in this case, is to not swerve two lanes over without looking, and then smashing into your car through no fault of your own. The driver did in fact swerve over two lanes without looking and smash into your car, so he has breached his duty to you following the reasonably prudent person standard as stated at law. The harm suffered is the damage to your car, and any physical harm to your body, as well as financial loss. Since the driver’s breach of conduct towards you was the cause of that harm, according to the law, the driver has acted negligently.
It’s as simple as that. With that said, even if you know all of the legal definitions in the world, having a good attorney represent you is important, no matter what the case may be. Every case is different, providing a wealth of trap doors to fall into if you are not aware of what you are doing, so make sure you find someone who is experienced, and who has worked in the area of law that pertains to the particular circumstances of your potential claim.
