Negligence is a legal term that means a failure to act carefully and responsibly. A plaintiff in negligence claims typically asks the court to order the defendant to pay damages.

To succeed with a negligence claim, the plaintiff generally must prove three things: they suffered an injury, the defendant’s behavior or action was the actual cause of the damage, and this harmful or wrongful act or omission could have been avoided if someone else had acted differently.

Contributory Negligence

Contributory negligence is the concept that forbids plaintiffs to recover compensation for the negligence of the defendant if they were also negligent of the accident. The idea is that if a person behaves recklessly or negligently enough, they will be at risk of injuring others.

Unlike in the case of comparative negligence, the degree of fault is not relevant in contributory negligence jurisdictions. If the victim is even 1% negligent they will not be able to recover damages from the other motorist who was 99% negligent.

The advantage of this system is that the court doesn’t have to accurately determine the degree of negligence for each party. Yet, this all-or-nothing ruling remains controversial and it has been replaced in many states by comparative negligence.

Comparative Negligence

Comparative negligence is a legal concept that allows parties involved in a lawsuit to share the blame for an accident. This means that if two parties are both at fault, but one party’s negligence was more severe than the other’s, then that person can only be held liable for the injuries caused by their negligence.

In most cases, comparative negligence will not affect a person’s ability to recover damages from their case. This is because the basic idea behind comparative negligence is that you can’t be held responsible for the entire loss when you’re involved in an accident. Instead, you must only reduce your responsibility by the amount you contributed to the accident.

In the United States, there are three main types of comparative negligence, pure, modified, and slight/gross.

Pure Comparative Negligence

Approximately one-third of states enact a pure comparative negligence system, including New York, California, and Florida. According to this rule, the plaintiff may recover compensation even if they are partially at fault for the accident. In fact, they may access damages even if they are 99% responsible for the incident. In this case, they may recover 1% of the total damages.

Modified Comparative Negligence

Some states enact modified comparative negligence laws. Under this system, the injured victim can claim compensation only if they are less than 50% responsible for the accident. It is important to note that the amount recovered will be reduced proportionately to the claimant’s assigned fault.

Slight/Gross Negligence

Currently, there is a single state enacting the slight/gross negligence rule. In South Dakota, the parties involved in an accident are not assigned fault percentages. Instead they will be found to have slight or gross contributions to the accident. Gross is defined as the conscious and reckless disregard for safety.

Therefore, if the plaintiff is assigned slight negligence and the defendant’s contribution is gross, the victim may access a higher award. However, if the plaintiff’s contribution is deemed to be more than slight, this will affect the recoverable amount.

If you were involved in an accident in South Dakota, contact a lawyer for guidance with your case. A legal expert can help you navigate the complex system of slight/gross negligence.

Seek Legal Counsel

The court system can be complicated, and the legal process can be filled with many hurdles for the parties involved. Therefore, parties must understand how negligence plays into the court’s decision. Consult a personal injury lawyer to learn more about the negligence rules that apply to your case.

An attorney can guide you through each stage of the claim process and help you access the compensation you need. Furthermore, working with a legal expert will increase the chances of a favorable outcome for your case.

Irma C. Dengler

With a BA in communications and paralegal experience, Irma C. Dengler decided to make the best of her writing skills. She decided to turn complicated legal matters into something more

palatable for the masses. Therefore, Irma became a law communicator who writes about everyday problems so everyone can understand them and take the appropriate action. She specialized in personal injury cases, as they are more common than anyone thinks, but her areas of expertise also include civil law, criminal law, insurance-related issues, and more.