Negligence Flashcards
what is negligence
negligence is when there is a duty of care, a breach of that duty of care and the resulting damages
what are the 3 main parts to negligence
- duty of care
- standard of care
- resulting damages
what are the types of victims in negligence
primary and secondary victims
what case established a duty of care and the neighbourhood principle and what happened in it.
Donoghue v Stevenson: a woman drank a ginger beer that contained a decomposed snail. it was original decided that the maker of the beer was not negligent as they had no duty of care to the drinker. however this case developed a duty of care for the consumer from the manufacturer.
what test is vital to see if there is a duty of care
3 point caparo test
what case established the caparo test
caparo v digman
what are the 3 pointd to the caparo test
- foreseeability
- proximity
- fair
what is a case example for foreseeability and what happened in it
Kent v Griffiths 2000: a ambulance was called for a person having an asthma attack, the ambulance took a considerably long time and the person suffered a heart attack as a result. it was found that it was foreseeable that some injury would occur due to the prolonged wait for an ambulance.
what is a case example for proximity and what happened in it.
Bournhill V Young 1943: the claimant was pregnant and getting of a bus when she heard a motor accident she saw blood on the road and it caused her to suffer shock and her baby to be still born. although it was reasonable that someone would suffer injury as a result of the accident the claimant was not in immediate proximity to the accident and therefore the claim failed.
What is a case example for fair and what happens in it
Alcock v chief constable police 1991: this case involves a man who was on the other side of the stadium during the halls borough disaster he watched the event and his brother in law died he suffered a nervous shock . However it was found that it wouldn’t be fair to impose a duty of care for someone on the other side of the stadium
What is the floodgates argument
When there is to many claims for a specific thing so they have to stop people from claiming
What is a case to show the standard of care
Blyth v water company
What happens in Blyth v water company and what did it lead to
Defendant had installed wayer mains to a house the claimants house was flooded as a result of the pipe cracking in cold temperatures. Lead to reasonable man test
What are the factors involved with deciding the standard of care
- size of risk
- special characteristics
- precautions taken
- social usefulness
- type of defendant
What is a case example for the size of risk
Bolton V Stone : claimant was injured after a ball from a neighbouring cricket field hit her. The field was protracted by fences and a large gap. It was found the size of risk was to small for a claim
What is a case example for the special characterises
Paris v Stepney 1951: the claimant had damage to one of his eyes from war and was employed in a garage. He was not supplied safety equipment and he was blinded by a piece of metal. The special characteristics was that he was already Damaged in his eye
What is a case example for precautions taken
Latiner v AEC - claimant worked in a factory that had become flooded and the floor was very slippery they put signs up but during a night shift he slipped and the company was negligent as the precautions weren’t enough they shouldn’t be allowed to work when it is flooded
What is a case example for social usefulness
Watts v herts : claimant worked for the fire department and was answering a call involving moving a heavy peice. The normal equipment needed was not Available so he was ordered to place it unsecured when driving he was injured . The defendant was not guilty as they needed it for an emergency
What is a case example for the type of defendant
Defendant was a learner driver she was taking lessons from a friend when they crashed however the fact she was a learner driver ment she wasn’t guilty
what is included in resulting damage?
causation, forseability
what is included in causation
factual and legal causation
what is included in factual causation
but for test
what is the but for test and a case example
but for the actions of the defendant would the outcome be the same? Bonnington castings v wardlaw 1965 : claiment became seriously ill due to dusty condition in factory there was 2 types of dust and they didnt know what caused it however they were still guilty
what is involved in legal causation.
legal responsibility, foreseeability, intervening acts
what is a case example for foreseeability
wagon mound 1
what are the different types of intervening acts
act of the victim, medical, act of a third party.
what is a case example for a medical intervening act
barnett v kengsington hospital 1969: man went to hospital but was turned away, he had arsnic poinsoning and died. however he would have died even if he was medically treated
what is a case example for an act of a third party
knightly v johns 1982: there was an accident near a tunnel and 2 poliuce officers arrived. howevrr one police officer forgot to block of the other way to the tunnel adn ordered the other to go down there. whe doing so he got hit by a car.
