Duty of Care and Your Case

There are many different kinds of accidents that can cause injury to people. It may be a car accident, dog bite, etc. Either way liability plays a big role in deciding who is at fault for the injuries. This article will discuss a part that makes up negligence: duty of care.

When determining who is legally responsible for an incident the law basically looks at the questions:

• Did the person act with reasonable care or carelessly?
• Did both parties contribute to the accident happening?
• Was the person negligent?

There are four elements that make up negligence; these are:

1. Duty of care
2. A breach in the duty of care
3. Causation
4. Damages

Duty of Care

There must exist a duty of care to decide whether or not a person is liable for the other person’s injuries. According to the Legal Dictionary duty of care is defined as:

“The legal responsibility of a person or organization to avoid any bad behaviors or omissions that could reasonably be foreseen to cause harm to others”.

Therefore, when there is a duty an individual has the responsibility to protect another from potential injuries.

In addition, another aspect of the basic negligence rule is the issue of “reasonable care” to avoiding injury to others. It must be noted that reasonable care varies in respect of time, place and relationship between people. Therefore, the same conduct may be considered negligent in one instance and not negligent in another. For example, a medical professional has a different reasonable care threshold as compared to a vehicle driver. In addition, when referring to matters with regards to medical malpractice; the standard of negligence is based on geographic location. As a result, standards of care or reasonable care are based on benchmarks set in a specific location.

For more information with regards to negligence in your case speak to a Vinson Law Office personal injury attorney.