Vince Sowerby on the Doctrine of Negligence Per Se in Distracted Driving



Negligence per se is a law principle that simplifies the process of proving negligence in specific circumstances. Unlike general negligence claims, where individuals must establish the defendant's obligation, breach, causation, and damages, negligence per se automatically presumes a duty and breach when specific legal violations occur.

In essence, negligence per se arises when a defendant breaks a law or regulation designed to protect the public, and that violation clearly causes harm to someone the law was intended to protect. This legal principle serves as a streamlined approach, allowing judges to focus on causation and damages rather than debating whether the defendant was at fault.

One of the most common examples of negligence per se is **driver distraction**, a behavior that has become increasingly prevalent with the rise of smartphones and other distractions behind the wheel. Distracted driving laws, such as prohibitions against texting while driving, are designed to safeguard everyone on the road from avoidable accidents. When a person breaks these laws and causes an accident, they can be found negligent per se.

### How Negligence Per Se Works

For negligence per se to apply, four factors must generally be met:
1. **The defendant violated a statute or regulation** – For instance, texting while driving goes against laws in most states.
2. **The statute was enacted to prevent the type of harm that occurred** – Texting bans aim to reduce car accidents caused by driver inattention.
3. **The plaintiff was among the group of people the law was designed to protect** – Road users, including motorists, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians, are intended beneficiaries of distracted driving laws.
4. **The statutory violation caused the plaintiff’s injury** – A direct connection must be established between the violation and the harm, such as a crash caused by a driver who was texting.

When these criteria are met, the legal system presumes the defendant was negligent. This means the plaintiff doesn’t need to establish the defendant's behavior was unreasonable—only that it violated the law and resulted in harm.

### Distracted Driving as a Case Study

Consider this scenario: A driver glances at their phone to read a text message, runs a red light, and collides with another vehicle. The driver violated a traffic law designed to prevent accidents, and their behavior directly caused harm. Under negligence per se, the injured party can argue that the statutory violation is enough to establish the driver’s negligence.




Watch Video

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Engaging Email Marketing Hacks That Go Beyond Merely Reaching Inboxes

So you know who your target audience is and have created special email templates that cater to their specific interests and needs. You also have a filtered and narrowed down list of recipients to be at the receiving end of the barrage of emails that you have scheduled for the coming two months or so. But have you paused to consider whether these will serve a purpose greater than resting comfortably in your recipients’ inboxes, or worse still, spam folders? The crux of email marketing lies in being an effective problem-solver. You need to effectively answer the customers’ queries and provide solutions to their problems through not only your products and services, but also through every marketing tactic that you put into practice. For example, an academic writing service should effectively present solutions to queries such as “I need a pro to do my homework ." Similarly, a downtown vet clinic should make sure all the ‘pet’ peeves vanish in a poof with each of the marketing as well...
Read more

Car Accident Lawyer Guide to After the Accident

Image
Car accidents are growing in number annually, and it is expected that we will eventually see six million collisions or accidents per year. With a number like this, it is rather evident that in your lifetime you will be involved in an incident at least once if not more. A car accident offers a guide to follow after the event to ensure safety of all involved, to cover all legal basis, and to collect information in case a car accident lawyer is needed. The first thing you should do if you are uninjured is to immediately check to see if anyone else is injured. If you can clearly see an injury, if a person is unable to tell you if he or she is hurt, or if there is any suspicion at all that there are hurt victims, call emergency services immediately. If a person cannot move himself, do not move him. Moving a car crash victim can add to his injuries and in some cases expedite death. Professional medical technicians trained in accident site emergencies will use the proper equipment and techni...
Read more

Getting The Most Bang From Your Social Media Bucks

Image
Today, it’s a well-known fact among dealers that a consistent presence on social media properties is vital to keeping their brand in front of consumers. It has also been found that some different types of content – text, images and video – perform better than others.   However, it’s still very difficult to know what the best TIME is to post content in order to maximize exposure. Consider this: A person charged with posting 19 pieces of content a day, planning to promote just 4 of them, has an overwhelming choice of 7 TRILLION different ways they can post that content.   A recent  study by the University of Notre Dame analyzed posts from major media outlets and conducted interviews with social media managers in an attempt to discover how managers decide when to post and what type of content most impacts engagement. The study also aimed to discover how much brainpower the viewer uses when looking at the post, and what emotions it elicits.   The study found that ...
Read more