Question

Discuss the difference between a contributory negligence state and a comparative negligence state. Find a case online that addresses one of these defenses and discuss the case as part of your answer.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Contributory Negligence State – This is when the injured party will not bear the loss of the accident even if they are partly at fault. This rule still exists in DC, Maryland, North Carolina, Alabama and Virginia.

Comparative Negligence State – In this scenario, if the injured party is even slightly to blame, they would be paying approximately 10% of the damages while the one who has caused the accident would pay about 90%

Case – There was a car accident on a street. John was driving his car while texting. This is why he was unable to give the situation his full attention. The nature of the accident was that his car hit Jane’s car. Jane in her car was sipping a flask of coffee and placing it in the cup-holder at the time of the accident. Although she was paying attention, she could not avoid the accident completely as she was not expecting it at the time of placing the flask in the cup-holder.

If this case were to be tried in DC, Maryland or the other states with Contributory Negligence, Jane would not have to pay any damages for either of their cars.

However, if this case were tried in a state with Comparative Negligence, Jane would either have to pay her own damages and ease John from the encumbrance of paying to fix her car, or she would have to pay for 10% of the damages which would help fix John’s case to a certain extent. John, on the other hand, would pay for 90% of the damage as texting and driving are not allowed, whereas drinking coffee and driving may not be entirely frowned upon.