Question

In: Operations Management

Suppose that John’s faulty driving causes an accident that injures another driver, Ben. Ben was not...

Suppose that John’s faulty driving causes an accident that injures another driver, Ben. Ben was not at fault in his driving, but he was not wearing his seat belt, and this fact aggravated his personal injury. Discuss liability under the rules of:

A. Simple negligence

B. Negligence with a defense of contributory negligence

C. Comparative negligence

Solutions

Expert Solution

A. Simple negligence is when John fails to take reasonable precautions that he should take otherwise while driving and that his actions has caused harm to Ben. In this case John didn't mean to cause harm to Ben but his faulty driving injured Ben, so as per simple negligence clause John is legally responsible for Ben's injuries.

Through a civil lawsuit, Ben may recover compensation for medical bills, lost wages, damage to the car and other costs associated with the accident.

B. Negligence with a defense of contributory negligence arises when John can prove in the court that because of Ben's negligence of not wearing seatbelt, the injury aggravated. As per contributory negligence clause, even if the negligence from Ben's side is 1%, he may be totally barred from receiving damages caused by John's faulty driving.

C. Most of the states have adopted comparative negligence as compared to contributory negligence, in case of comparative negligence; one can weigh the negligence of both the parties in an injury and can determine damages accordingly. It is done by two methods:

  • Pure Comparative negligence: In this damages caused to Ben are calculated first and then the amount reflecting his contribution to injury is subtracted
  • Modified comparative negligence: In this case if Ben's contribution to injury is equal or more than John's contribution to injury, then he may not be able to recover damages

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