Negligence Flashcards
When should the test from Caparo v Dickman be applied?
Where there is a novel duty situation
What does the case of Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire tell us about duty of care?
Caparo v Dickman does not need to be applied where there is existing case law/established duty situations
What is the first part of the Caparo test?
Was harm reasonably foreseeable?
In which case was it foreseeable that more harm could occur if an ambulance took 40 minutes to make a 6 mile journey without explanation?
Kent v Griffiths
What happened in Bourhill v Young and which parts of the Caparo test does this case illustrate?
A women was 50 yards from a motorcycle crash which she did not witness, but sued the defendant’s estate for the loss of her baby due to the shock of the accident. The harm was not foreseeable nor was she proximate in relationship, time or space
Why was the claim in McLoughlin v O’Brian successful?
The claimant witnessed her family in their post-accident state immediately after the accident, in the hospital - she was therefore proximate in relationship (family) and time
Name 3 policy factors considered in the ‘fair, just and reasonable’ part of the Caparo test.
- Wider implications
- Improving standards of care
- Insured and in a position to compensate
- Floodgates argument
- Deserving of special protection
- Serving a socially useful purpose
Which case tells us that children will be compared to children of the same age regarding breach of duty, and what are the facts of this case?
Mullins v Richards - two 15 year olds were fighting with rulers when one ruler snapped, injuring one child’s eye. It was decided that an ordinary 15 y.o would not have foreseen any danger
What rule in breach of duty does the case of Nettleship v Weston give us?
Inexperience is irrelevant - a learner will be compared to a qualified and competent person in that skill
‘Has D acted in a__________ with a practice accepted as proper by a r_________ body of (medical men) s_______ in that particular art?’ (B____ v Friern Barnet Hospital Management Committee)
Accordance, responsible, skilled, Bolam
Name two risk factors considered in establishing a breach of duty
Size of risk, known risk, special characteristics, precautions, social utility
Which case can be used to support that taking reasonable precautions may mean there is no breach of duty?
Latimer v AEC - covered the flooded factory floor with as much straw as possible. It was not reasonable to expect them to close the factory, which would have been the only other alternative
What happened in Roe v Minister of Health and how does this relate to breach of duty?
There were invisible cracks in test tubes which caused the anaesthetics injected into patients to become contaminated. As the risk was unknown, there was no breach
What were the claimants special characteristics in Paris v Stepney BC?
The claimant was already blind in one eye, and the other was damaged due to the negligence of the employer not supplying safety goggles
Why was a lower standard of care acceptable in Watt v Hertfordshire CC?
Because they were responding to an emergency. A heavy jack was not secured as the specially designed truck was on another call, which injured C
Which case is used for factual causation in negligence, and what happened in this case?
Barnett v Chelsea and Kensington Hospital Management Committee, the victim would have died from arsenic poisoning whether he had received prompt medical treatment or not
What are the three intervening act categories in negligence?
Victims own actions, act of a 3rd party, poor medical treatment
What is the test from Knightley v Johns, used for act of a 3rd party?
Was the intervention a natural and probable result?
When will poor medical treatment be an intervening act
When it is ‘grossly negligent or a ‘completely inappropriate response’ to an injury (Clerk and Lindsell on Torts)
Remoteness - Was d______ reasonably f______? (The W______ M______)
Damage, foreseeable, The Wagon Mound
Why was the fire damage to the wharf and ships too remote?
Because the temperature of the oil needed to be very high to catch fire, and it was extremely unlikely to reach that temperature on the water
List the three things which may be considered where damage is foreseeable
If it occurs in an unusual or expected way, if it takes an unusual form, that D must take V as he finds them
In which case was the thin skull rule applied when molten metal splashed on a workers lip, which turned cancerous and he died?
Smith v Leech Brain
What happened in Hughes v Lord Advocate and what is it used to support?
Two boys went down into an unattended manhole with a paraffin lamp which had been left outside it, when one of them dropped the lamp causing an explosion. The fact that the injury came from an unexpected explosion did not matter
What happened in Bradford v Robinson Rentals?
The claimant suffered frostbite as a result of having to drive lorries across the country with no heating and broken windows. It was held that some cold related injury was foreseeable, so even though the frostbite was unusual, it did not matter
