What Does The Duty Of Care Mean In Injury Law?

Civilized life requires some understanding that people owe it to each other to not harm one another. In terms of personal injury law, this idea is enshrined in what's called the duty of care. Let's take a look at why this is important to the process of filing a claim or lawsuit and how it might affect your case.

What Is the Duty of Care?

The classic case a personal injury lawyer would point to is one where someone suffers a slip-and-fall accident at a store. For example, the victim might break their arm because the staff had washed the floor and not posted and any "wet floor" signs. The store has a duty to provide a safe space for shopping, and that duty extends to employees. Notably, liability in this scenario applies only to the employer because the employee is an extension of the business as an entity.

Many public areas, even on private property, must also be safely maintained. If there's a sidewalk in front of a house, most jurisdictions require the property owner to maintain it to ensure passersby won't be harmed. An upheave that caused someone to trip, for example, might make the homeowner liable.

Establishing a Duty of Care

In many situations, a duty of care must be established by action or law. An invitation is the most obvious way this happens. In the example of the store, the invitation is implied when the store opens its business to public foot traffic.

Some actions also carry a duty of care. Driving a car, for example, includes a duty of care to maintain and operate your vehicle within safe limits.

Nearly all highly dangerous activities automatically come with a duty of care, and this comes with what's called strict liability. If you have an exotic animal on your property, you are strictly liable for any harm it might cause to anyone. The same goes for all activities involving explosives. Some states also have laws involving domesticated animals, although these vary.

When Isn't There a Duty of Care?

There are circumstances where the relationship between two people is too weak to imply a duty of care. For example, a personal injury attorney would not take a case based on the idea that a passerby had a duty to rescue a drowning person in a nearby river. The passerby can't be liable because they took no actions to cause the situation.

Share