If you have seen a demonstration of careless or neglectful behavior, then you may wonder how the legal system can say without question that such demonstrations are examples of some type of negligence. More perplexing yet, the same legal system has chosen to classify that sort of behavior, and to match it with one of five specific types of negligence.
What are the names for those five types of negligence?
One of them has been called contributory. That means that some degree of the fault has been shifted to the plaintiff. The plaintiff has contributed to creation of what has resulted from the careless and neglectful behavior.
A second one might be called “settlement-ready.” It is used when the settlement needs to be arranged outside of a courtroom. It does not remove the guilt placed on the defendant, but it can affect the compensation awarded to the plaintiff.
A third type is really a combination of types one and two. A judge would declare that a defendant’s behavior belongs with examples of this third type of negligence, if the plaintiff were more than 50% responsible for the resulting injuries or damages. If a judge feels that a defendant should not have to shoulder all the responsibility for what has happened, then he or she might deny the amount that could have been awarded to the plaintiff.
The fourth type includes examples of those cases in which a defendant has been grossly negligent. The old western movies treated audiences to lots of examples of behavior that could be described as grossly careless. Any scene that depicts a violent act provides an example of the fourth of the five different situations in which someone has been negligent. Careless and neglectful behavior by someone in the field of medicine also illustrates the features associated with behavior that is grossly negligent.
The fifth and final type on the list of behaviors that serve as examples of negligence gets performed vicariously. In other words, one person might plan an act of revenge against a certain individual, and then arrange for a pet or minor to carry out that planned action.
A closer look at vicarious negligence
Frequently, an act performed in a violent manner has been done in reaction to a word spoken by or an action taken by someone else. Naturally, something done rapidly can demonstrate marked carelessness. Yet the plotting that precedes a vicarious act of revenge usually proceeds in a careful fashion.
The careful planning that takes place before performance of the type of act that would be classed as vicarious negligence has a different feature, one that matches with the definition of negligent. That vicariously committed action is considered negligent, because the planner has been decidedly neglectful. He or she has neglected to consider what might happen to the person or animal that has been tricked into carrying out the well-planned act of revenge. It is best to discuss the details with a personal injury lawyer in St. Albert.