Negligence意思

"Negligence" is a legal term that refers to a person's failure to exercise a reasonable level of care toward others, which results in harm or damage. In other words, negligence occurs when someone does not act the way that a reasonably careful person would act in similar circumstances, and this careless action or inaction causes harm to another person or entity.

To prove negligence, four elements must typically be established:

  1. Duty: The defendant must have owed a duty of care to the plaintiff. This means there was a legal obligation to act in a certain way to avoid harm to the other person.

  2. Breach: The defendant must have breached the duty of care by acting in a way that a reasonable person would not have acted under similar circumstances.

  3. Causation: The breach of the duty of care must have caused the plaintiff's injury or damage. There must be a direct link between the defendant's actions (or inactions) and the harm suffered by the plaintiff.

  4. Damages: The plaintiff must have suffered actual harm, which can include physical injury, emotional distress, property damage, or financial loss.

Negligence can be found in various contexts, including car accidents, medical malpractice, slip and fall accidents, product liability, and many other situations where one party's careless actions or omissions lead to harm to another. In cases of negligence, the injured party may be able to seek compensation for their damages through a personal injury lawsuit or other legal remedies.