Negligence: Legal Implications

“Negligence” is a word that seems pretty cut and dry. When a person does not take care of something else properly, that person is negligent or is behaving negligently. However, when it comes to personal injury law, negligence has a much deeper and far-reaching definition. Find out more about the legal implications of negligence and what it may lead to in the eyes of the law.

Negligence in Personal Injury

When applying the basic definition of negligence in a legal sphere, the range widens. Personal injury law is based around fault caused by a person’s failure to follow either rules or common sense. The behavior is egregious and ignorant, and to qualify for a personal injury action, the negligence must be the direct cause of an injury to another. Personal injury actions are most often filed in incidents such as:

  • Car crashes
  • Work injuries
  • Medical malpractice
  • Slip and falls
  • Dog bites

To prove negligence, the victim must show how the perpetrator’s behavior directly led to the damage and that they disregarded the well-being of others.

Failure to Act

Negligence is not just about taking action. A failure to take proper action in the face of existing circumstances can rise to negligence in the court’s eyes. For instance, a doctor who fails to conduct proper testing and therefore misses a diagnosis may be negligent. A dog owner who does not put a leash on their aggressive dog, and the inaction leads to a bite, is negligent as well. An employer who does not provide the proper safety equipment is complacent when an employee is injured. Thus, sitting back and doing nothing can lead to negligence just as easily as doing the wrong thing.

Obvious Negligent Behavior

Negligence can take many forms and cause catastrophic damage to a victim. Car accidents are the most obvious and deadly type of personal injury lawsuits. When people get behind the wheel of the car and do not obey the rules, it can lead to serious crashes. The at-fault driver may prove negligent by doing such things as:

  • Speeding
  • Running a red light or stop sign
  • Drinking and driving
  • Changing lanes and driving erratically

When it comes to medical malpractice, a doctor who operates on the wrong body part or fails to follow proper protocol when instituting treatment faces a negligence finding.The severity of the injury will dictate who much medical care will cost the victim and their family. Thus, if there is a case for negligence, a lawyer, can help recover the money necessary for treatment and distress caused by the at-fault party.