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Ask a Personal Injury Attorney: What is Negligence Per Se and How Could it Impact My Personal Injury Case?

Although proving a personal injury lawsuit is frequently challenging, there is one less step to do when negligence per se is involved. After learning more about this legal theory, call Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 to schedule a free legal consultation and discuss your case’s best course of action.

Simply put, negligence per se indicates that if a person’s actions violate a law or a statute, they are negligent. The most typical instance frequently involves a drunk driver who causes a collision.

In traditional negligence cases, you must demonstrate three elements

There are three things you need to demonstrate in a classic negligence case:

  1. The wounded party owed the defendant a duty of care
  2. The defendant disregarded that care obligation
  3. Due to that carelessness, there was an injury and subsequent damages

The first two elements of a typical negligence case may be challenging to show.

The first two elements are established by negligence per se

The first two requirements are automatically established when negligence per se is pertinent. Therefore, you do not need to demonstrate that the defendant owed you a duty of care or that this duty was broken. You only need to demonstrate that the breach caused your injury. After that, we will have to demonstrate the amount of your damages and injuries.

Situations when negligence per se is applicable

It is likely that negligence per se will apply if the defendant broke a statute, law, or regulation, the statute, law, or regulation’s goal was to prevent the harm that occurred, and the injured person was one of the people the law, statute, or regulation was meant to protect.

For instance, the goal of a law requiring all cars to stop completely at school crossings is to protect pedestrians from traffic. Because the motorist broke the law, the legislation was meant to protect the injury that occurred, and the teacher was someone the laws were meant to protect, negligence per se would be relevant if a teacher was injured by a car while using the crosswalk.

If you have been hurt in an automobile accident, regardless of the reason or responsible party, call Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation. We can identify who was probably at blame, assist you in estimating the value of your case, and collaborate with you to take further action. To discover more, contact us right away.