An Explanation of Negligence Per Se in a Personal Injury Case
The objective of personal injury law is to protect your rights when you’re injured due to someone else’s negligence. In most personal injury cases, the individual who was responsible for the accident that caused your injuries will be the one who compensates for your losses.
If you’ve been injured in an accident, it is important to get legal help for your personal injury claim. An experienced lawyer will assist you from the initial stages of your personal injury case until the settlement negotiation and trial.
One of the areas of expertise of a lawyer is finding instances to prove liability. One such instance is negligence per se.
What is Negligence Per Se?
Negligence per se is a concept that is often seen in personal injury cases. The definition of negligence per se can differ based on the jurisdiction.
In this concept, a specific act will be considered negligent if it violates a law that was formed with the intention of protecting the public.
In layman’s terms, an act will be called negligent if it breaks any state or city law. A good example of negligence per se is the blood alcohol content limits (BAC) for drunk drivers. The driver violates the laws by driving with a BAC above the state-mentioned limits. This is considered an act of negligence.
In personal injury law, negligence has four elements. They are
- Duty of Care
- Breach of Duty of Care
- Causation
- Damages
Negligence per se eliminates the first and second elements. If an individual violates a law, then there’s no reason to prove that the individual owed a duty of care and that the duty of care was breached.
How to Prove Negligence Per Se
As said before, negligence per se removes the first two elements of personal injury law. This means that to support the negligence per se theory in a personal injury case, the plaintiff has to
- Prove that the defendant broke a law
- Prove that the violated law was formed to protect an individual from an injury that the plaintiff is currently suffering from
- Prove that the plaintiff belongs to the group of individuals that the violated law was formed to protect
We’ll discuss each of these elements below.
The Violation of the Law
This is perhaps the easiest part of negligence per se. The plaintiff just has to provide evidence that supports the notion that the defendant broke the law.
For example, assume a motorcyclist was hit by a driver at an intersection. The driver jumped a red light and collided with the motorcyclist. In this case, the driver is the liable party as they violated the law.
The Purpose of the Law
Just about any law you can think of is made with the intention of protecting the general population or a specific group within the population. The same applies to negligence per se as well.
The law is worded in a specific way that prioritizes the safety of the general population against harm, be it physical, emotional, or financial.
The Plaintiff is Part of the Group the Law was Meant to Protect
As said before, laws are meant for the general population. This means that any violation has an increased chance of causing harm to the general public, for whose safety the law is framed.
Take the above intersection accident as an example. Traffic laws are made with the intent of protecting motorists. A driver breaking this law and colliding with a motorcyclist puts the specific group whom the law was meant to protect in danger.
Conclusion
Accidents can completely change your life. You may be suddenly hit with severe physical injuries and emotional conditions. Not to forget the serious financial stress the victims may find themselves in.
If you’re a victim of an accident, don’t hesitate to approach an experienced personal injury attorney and find out how you can legally pursue the at-fault party.