“You missed a deadline? What negligence! You really need to focus on your work.”

“Look at all these weeds! People are so negligent when it comes to cleaning their yards.”

“I’ve decided to eat better. I really don’t want to neglect my health.”

Negligence. We use forms of that word to describe everything from a careless spill to outrageous behavior. In the law, however, “negligence” has a very specific meaning. If you believe you are a victim of negligence, a simple dictionary won’t help you prove your case. You need a legal professional to help you to understand what the term means — and if you have a chance of success in court.

So, what is negligence in the context of a civil lawsuit? It’s a failure to live up to a certain level of care — the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would follow in the same circumstances. You can be negligent in things you do (acts) or in things you fail to do (omissions). You can be liable for negligence in the eyes of the law even if you didn’t intend to hurt the other person.

Let’s take a look at a familiar example:

You are driving in your car one night, and you come to a four-way stop. You look left and right (and straight ahead!) and proceed carefully into the intersection. Out of nowhere, another car slams into your passenger-side door. You’re not exactly sure what happened. You’re hurt. There’s broken glass everywhere. Someone is asking if you’re okay, and they’re telling you to stay calm. They’ve called for help. Did this good Samaritan see what happened? Did anyone see where that other driver came from? Is the other driver okay? In a few minutes, there’s noise and lights. People with uniforms and badges are asking you questions and taking detailed notes. An ambulance arrives. After a whirlwind of police reports, insurance calls, and painkillers for your injuries, your head clears and you say to yourself, “That other driver really should take responsibility for all of this!” 

To win your negligence case, the court will require you to prove four things: duty, breach, causation, and damages. Let’s see how that would look in the case of your car crash.

  1. You will first need to show the other driver owed you a duty. For a car crash, establishing a duty is straightforward. We all have a duty of reasonable care to others to drive our vehicles in a safe manner — in a way that a reasonable person would operate a car.
  2. You’ll also have to show that the other driver breached that duty when they ran the stop sign. That he or she did not drive her vehicle in a manner that reasonable person would have under similar circumstances. Important questions. Was the other driver texting? Playing with their car radio? Speeding? Maybe a stop sign was missing or there was a defect in the road where someone other than the driver, may have some or all of the fault. Or where there circumstances that shifts some of the fault to you. Were your headlights off? Were you driving over the speed limit? Were you distracted?
  3. Next, you’ll need to show that the other driver’s breach of their duty was the cause of your injuries. In Arizona, you must establish that the negligent act was a substantial factor in bringing about the injuries and that these injuries you sustained were foreseeable. For instance, the motor vehicle crash causes a foot injury. Forces from the collision were surely a substantial factor in causing the injury, and it is a foreseeable that a crash would cause such an injury. However, a week later you trip and fall and break your arm. The reason you fell is because of the foot injury. The crash is likely a substantial factor in causing your broken arm. Without the foot injury, you would not have fallen. However, foresee-ability is a significant problem. It’s not foreseeable at the time of a car crash that you’re going to trip and fall a week later and sustain injury. Another causation issue that frequently comes up is new injury versus a pre-existing injury or condition. In Arizona, a negligent party is responsible for causing a new injury. Further, a negligent party is also responsible for re-injuring or worsening a condition.
  4. Finally, you must prove the other driver’s breached duty led to damages for you, such as medical bills and lost income. Here, the damages must be reasonably related to injuries sustained in the car crash, and that the amount is reasonable and customary. Often, damages are proven through extensive documentation and through experts (medical, accounting, economists).

Negligence isn’t just a legal standard in car crashes. Here are other ways negligence can appear:

  • Bars and nightclubs owe the public a duty to not over-serve customers with alcohol
  • Personal trainers owe clients a duty to design and program a workout that is reasonable for the trainer’s client’s age, conditioning level and athletic background.
  • Insurance producers (agents) owe clients a duty to advise whether a client’s liability limits are sufficient to protect the client’s assets in the event of a loss.
  • Doctors must adhere to certain standards of care to avoid patient injury.
  • Manufacturers have a duty to design products that won’t harm consumers.

Although the basic negligence formula is easy to understand in theory, it gets complicated very fast. If you’ve been injured in any type of crash or incident, or you believe you suffered injuries as a result of negligence, you have a limited amount of time to file your claim. It’s critical to have an expert evaluate your case.

At McFadden Ticen & Beam, we’ll be on the scene from the beginning to help you every step of the way. And most important of all, we can help you get started with absolutely nothing out of pocket. Contact us today.