Personal injury litigation can be classified into 2 different categories. These are as follows:
Negligence cases - These arise when the person causing the harm does not actually intend to do so.
Intentional acts/’torts’ - These are the wrongful acts of another person which entitles the injured party to seek damages through the court.
This article is about the first category, that is, the negligence cases.
When the person causing the harm shows carelessness towards the safety of other people and end up causing injury to the other person unintentionally, the cause of such an action is termed as "negligence".
For instance, most of the laws and litigations arising out of motor vehicle accidents merely charge a driver with being "negligent."
In order to win a "negligence" case, an injured person is required to produce suitable evidence to prove that the defendant owed him a duty to exercise reasonable care. Also, he should state that the duty was violated by the defendant, that his injuries resulted from the violation of duty, and that the injuries were a result of that violation”.
In case of an automobile accident, the duty of the driver of a car is to keep his car under control at all times. He owes other drivers the duty to drive safely. At the same time, it is most likely that slightest of mistakes made while driving can lead to disastrous accidents causing serious injuries to other people.
Therefore, a person who gets injured in a car accident is entitled to file a case of negligence against the driver. He is in a position good enough to argue that the driver who caused the accident was “legally negligent”. The injured person can, thus, ask for suitable compensation for the injuries caused by the accident.
To conclude, the most common negligence actions include the following:
- Automobile accidents
- "Slip and Fall" accidents –that result from improper design or maintenance
- Medical malpractice actions.
