If you or a loved one were injured by someone else’s negligence in California, you must prove a “breach of duty.” This concept can significantly impact the outcome of a personal injury case.
Whether you are a victim of a car accident, slip and fall, or pedestrian accident, showing how a breach of duty occurred will be essential for your case. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you prove your claim and recover the compensation you deserve.
What is Negligence?
Negligence is a fundamental concept in personal injury law. It forms the basis of many claims and lawsuits. Simply stated, negligence refers to someone’s failure to behave as we would expect a reasonably prudent person to act under similar circumstances. This “reasonable person” standard is crucial. It’s the legal standard against which we will judge a person’s actions to determine liability in an injury case.
Understanding negligence involves recognizing its key components:
- Duty of Care: This refers to the legal obligation we have to exercise reasonable care in our actions to prevent harm to others. The extent of our duty varies depending on the situation and our relationship with other people. For example, if you are driving a car in California, you have a duty to follow traffic laws and drive safely.
- Breach of Duty: You must show that someone breached their duty to you.
- Causation: You must show that the breach of duty directly caused your injury or damages.
- Damages: You must prove you suffered actual harm or loss due to the person’s actions. This can be physical, emotional, or financial losses in personal injury claims.
Our own negligence sometimes contributes to accidents. This idea, known as comparative fault, may impact your claim and compensation. A Hermosa Beach personal injury lawyer can help you establish negligence against others in your case and refute allegations of shared blame that may be made against you.
What is Breach of Duty?
A key part of a personal injury case is proving a “breach of duty.” We each owe a duty to others in different situations to behave reasonably to prevent injury or harm. A breach of duty occurs when someone fails to meet this obligation.
To prove a breach of duty in a personal injury case, you must show that a person or business entity owed a duty of care to you. You must then show that through their careless action or inaction, they caused you injuries.
Examples of a Breach of Duty in a Personal Injury Case
While it may be difficult to imagine a breach of duty, examples are all around us. Breaches of duty occur every day when a person or entity fails to uphold the standard of care we expect and causes injury or harm.
Our Redondo Beach personal Injury Lawyers have seen breaches of duty arise in dozens of circumstances. Common examples include the following:
Car Accidents
Drivers owe other drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians a duty to drive safely. A distracted driver, for example, can be held liable for any injuries caused by breaching their duty of safe driving. Consider a situation where a driver is texting while driving, which causes a rear-end collision at a traffic light. Texting while driving is a violation of the driver’s duty of care.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Property owners and managers have a duty to keep premises safe from hazards. Consider a situation where someone at a shopping center trips over a step that was unrepaired for weeks and sustains injuries. The mall had a duty to maintain a safe environment for patrons, which they breached by neglecting the repair and not warning of the hazard.
Medical Malpractice
Medical providers have a duty to provide a certain level of care to patients. Their required standard of care depends on their experience, location, and specialty. For example, suppose a physician fails to properly diagnose a patient’s condition, which a similarly situated physician would’ve caught. They could be liable for medical malpractice for breaching their duty of care.
Dog Bites
Dog owners have a duty to control their dogs. For example, failing to leash an aggressive dog in a public area is a breach of this duty. Consider a situation where a dog owner fails to restrain their dog in a public park, and the dog bites another person. The owner can be held liable for any injuries caused by their pet.
Every personal injury case is. Consult an attorney to evaluate the breach of duty responsible for your accident or injury.
A Hermosa Beach Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You Prove Breach of Duty in Your Case
Breach of duty is a significant concept in California personal injury law. Regardless of the type of accident you’re involved in, understanding breach of duty is vital when negligence is involved.
Remember that each case is different. If you or a loved one has suffered an injury in Hermosa Beach, CA, schedule a free consultation with a lawyer to determine whether a breach of duty occurred.
Our team at The Simon Law Group can help you collect evidence to build a case for compensation for the injuries and losses you may have sustained. We have three convenient locations in California, including Redondo Beach, Torrance, Hermosa Beach, and Santa Ana, CA. We also have offices in Phoenix, AZ, and Austin, TX.
