The duty of care is a legal obligation one person owes another to exercise reasonable caution when doing something that could foreseeably cause harm. A breach of duty occurs when this obligation is not fulfilled.
For example, a doctor has a duty of care to meet the standards required to treat a patient’s illness or injury. A breach of duty occurs when the doctor fails to follow these standards and causes injury to the patient as a result.
In any personal injury claim, you must establish a breach of duty for it to be valid. Personal injury attorneys have extensive experience with various cases and will be able to guide you on how to prove your claim.
Breach of duty in the elements of personal injury law
Breach of duty is the second element the plaintiff has to prove when determining liability. To find the liable party, the plaintiff must prove the following elements:
- The defendant had a duty of care
- The defendant violated the duty
- The breach of duty was the direct cause of the accident
- The accident caused tangible and intangible losses to the plaintiff
Standard of care means the kind of response that is expected from a person in a dangerous situation. This means that the defendant should have behaved in a way a reasonable person would have in a similar situation, thereby avoiding causing harm to others. A breach of duty can be established if the defendant fails to do so.
Once a breach of duty of care has been established, the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant’s actions directly caused the accident. This is called causation. The lack of action by the defendant can also be attributed to the accident.
Examples of breach of duty
There are several instances where a breach of duty is applicable. Here are a few examples:
A bus driver can be charged for breach of duty if they were driving under the influence of alcohol and caused an accident. The duty of care here is to drive responsibly while following the rules of the road. The breach of duty occurred when the driver operated the bus while intoxicated and caused an accident.
A business owner can be charged with breach of duty if a patron trips and sustains injuries due to damaged flooring on the premises. The business owner has a duty of care to maintain a safe environment for their customers. Not maintaining the floor for customers constitutes a breach of duty.
Professionals like doctors are generally held to a higher duty standard than others. Similarly, bus drivers are also held to a higher standard of duty than other car drivers because they drive public transport.
Exceptions
Children are not held to the same standards as adults. For example, in a 2009 case, a 13-year-old ran into the plaintiff on a playground, injuring her. As the child behaved in the manner children are expected to behave, they were not held responsible for the injury.
While children are held to a different standard, this cannot be used as a complete defense. For example, in another case, two 15-year-olds were play-fighting with rulers when the rulers broke and injured one of the children.
In this case, the child was held responsible because they were more aware of their situation and the possible damage that could be done.
Conclusion
Proving a breach of duty is essential in a personal injury case, without which your claim will not be valid. How the cases are interpreted depends on various factors, including which state your claim is filed in and the specifics of the case. An attorney with extensive experience in the field will not have any trouble proving a breach of duty, so you should consider hiring one.