Contributory negligence is a legal doctrine that applies in personal injury cases where the plaintiff's own negligence contributed to the accident or harm they suffered. Under contributory negligence, if the plaintiff is found to have contributed to their injuries in any way, their damages may be reduced or eliminated entirely, depending on the jurisdiction.
Contributory negligence is typically considered a complete defense, meaning that if the plaintiff is found to be even partially responsible for their injuries, they may be barred from recovering any damages from the defendant. This doctrine follows a strict "all or nothing" approach, where any degree of negligence on the part of the plaintiff can completely extinguish their right to compensation.
To illustrate the concept, let's consider an example:
Imagine a scenario where a pedestrian is crossing a road outside of a designated crosswalk, and a driver, who is speeding, fails to see the pedestrian and hits them. In a jurisdiction that follows the doctrine of contributory negligence, if the case goes to court, the court may examine the actions of both parties to determine if there was any contributory negligence.
If the court finds that the pedestrian's decision to cross the road outside the crosswalk contributed to the accident, they may assign a percentage of fault to the pedestrian. Let's say the court determines that the pedestrian was 20% at fault for the accident, while the driver was 80% at fault. If the pedestrian's damages were determined to be $100,000, the court would reduce the amount by the percentage of fault attributed to the pedestrian. In this case, the pedestrian would only be entitled to recover $80,000, reflecting their 20% contribution to the accident.
However, it's important to note that the specific rules and standards regarding contributory negligence vary between jurisdictions. Some jurisdictions have replaced contributory negligence with a comparative negligence system, where damages are apportioned based on the degree of fault assigned to each party. This allows a plaintiff to still recover damages even if they are partially at fault, although the amount may be reduced proportionately