Five people were injured and a 20-year-old woman was killed in a crash with a stolen Kia in early August. The crash happened at the Pearl Rd. and Altoona Rd. intersection in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood, around 8:30pm. Eyewitnesses reported that the stolen Kia was speeding just before the crash happened.
When someone injures another person while committing a crime, it may be considered negligence per se. Here’s how this legal concept works.
Negligence per se and personal injury claims
Negligence often arises in personal injury cases. It refers to the failure of a person to exercise reasonable care (such as following applicable laws), resulting in harm to another individual. However, in some situations, negligence may be established more easily through a legal doctrine known as “negligence per se.”
Negligence per se is a legal doctrine that presumes an individual’s negligence based on the violation of a statute or regulation. Unlike traditional negligence, where plaintiffs must prove that the defendant breached a duty of care owed to them, negligence per se simplifies the process by linking the defendant’s actions to the violation of a specific law.
In other words, if a person’s actions violate a law or regulation, and those actions result in harm to another individual, negligence per se may be applicable. In such cases, the defendant is presumed to have acted negligently, making it easier for the plaintiff to establish liability.
To successfully assert negligence per se in a personal injury case, the following elements must be met:
- Applicable statute or regulation: The plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant violated a specific statute or regulation designed to protect against the type of harm that occurred—in this case, laws against stealing vehicles.
- Violation of the statute: The plaintiff must provide evidence that the defendant indeed violated the relevant statute or regulation.
- Proximate cause: The violation of the statute or regulation must be the direct cause of the plaintiff’s injury: a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the defendant’s actions.
Negligence per se lowers the burden of proof for plaintiffs by automatically establishing the defendant’s negligence through the violation of a statute or regulation. They only need to prove the violation of the law and the resulting harm, rather than establishing a breach of duty.
If you or a loved one has suffered harm due to another person’s violation of a law or regulation, call The Law Offices of Tim Misny right away.
Discuss your claim with an Ohio personal injury attorney today
The Law Offices of Tim Misny can help you with your personal injury claim. If you or a loved one were injured due to someone else’s negligence or recklessness, I’ll Make Them Pay!® Call my office at (800) 556-4769 so that I can evaluate your case right away.
