All flashcards
346 cards
81What is the procedural effect of applying the doctrine of negligence per se to a negligence claim?
82What are the requirements for the application of negligence per se?
83In what five situations will courts not replace the general standard of reasonable care with a law’s specific requirements, even though the plaintiff has established the general elements of negligence per se?
84An adult man drove a car with expired license plates on a public street. Under a state law, driving with expired plates was a misdemeanor carrying a criminal fine. The purpose of this law was to raise licensing revenue and allow officials to correctly identify cars by number. The man struck and injured a pedestrian, who promptly sued the man for negligence.Are the specific requirements of the law that penalizes driving with expired license plates likely to replace the general standard of care (reasonable care under the circumstances) as the standard of care for this negligence claim?
85A motor-vehicle law forbid any motor-vehicle operator from crossing over a solid yellow line into the opposing lane of traffic. A residential-housing law required all landlords to provide “safe and sanitary living quarters” for their residential tenants, but elaborated no further.Based solely on this information, which law is a better candidate for negligence per se: the motor-vehicle law or the residential-housing law?
86A traffic law required pedestrians to walk facing oncoming traffic or incur a criminal fine. A pedestrian was walking while facing traffic when he saw a large dog rushing to attack him. To avoid the dog, the pedestrian crossed the road and walked facing away from traffic. The dog did not follow. Moments later, a driver negligently steered off the road and struck the pedestrian. The pedestrian sued the driver for negligence. Under applicable law, the pedestrian cannot recover if his own negligence contributed to his injuries. The driver argued that it was negligence per se for the pedestrian to walk facing away from traffic.Assuming that the pedestrian’s conduct here satisfies the elements of negligence per se, is it possible for the pedestrian to show that an exception to negligence per se applies here?
87What is a breach of duty?
88In a typical negligence case, may a plaintiff establish a defendant’s breach by showing that the defendant’s conduct was unreasonable?
89What is the test used to determine whether a defendant's failure to take a specific precaution is a breach of duty?
90Does the law require a defendant to use excessive caution or heroism to avoid injuring a plaintiff?
91How is a defendant’s compliance or noncompliance with a business, trade, or industry custom relevant to the question of breach of duty?
92How does the level of care required by business, trade, or industry custom affect a court’s determination of whether the defendant acted reasonably?
93Do customs and practices differ from negligence per se in establishing the standard of care and its breach?
94What does the term res ipsa loquitur mean?
95What is the procedural effect of successfully invoking the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur?
96What two elements must a plaintiff establish to invoke the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur?
97If multiple defendants in a hierarchical relationship had control over the harmful instrumentality, will courts permit the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur to apply against all defendants?
98If the plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to the harm, can that preclude the application of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur?
99If a defendant complies with customs and safety practices standard in the defendant’s industry, does that always prevent a fact finder from determining that the defendant’s behavior was negligent?
100In determining the level of care a reasonable person should exercise to avoid being negligent, do courts take into account an adult defendant’s serious mental impairments (e.g., insanity or unusually low intelligence)?
101After surgery under general anesthesia, a patient awakened to excruciating abdominal pain. Subsequent examination revealed that a surgical instrument had been left inside the patient’s body.To establish medical negligence (malpractice), must the plaintiff hire a surgeon or other relevant medical expert to testify as to the customary level of care for the kind of medical treatment the patient received?
102A state statute prohibited parking in spaces for the disabled without a valid permit and imposed a criminal fine for violations. The statute was meant to provide ease and safety for disabled customers entering and exiting stores. A young driver who did not have a permit parked in the only disabled parking space at a grocery store, forcing an elderly driver with a permit to park several rows away from the entrance to the store. While the elderly driver was inside shopping, a snowplow run into the elderly driver’s car and damaged the vehicle. The elderly driver sued the young driver for negligence for the vehicle damage.Can the elderly driver rely on the young driver’s statutory violation to establish that the young driver breached the duty of reasonable care?
103In addition to proving duty, the standard of care, and breach of that duty, what else must a negligence plaintiff prove?
104For purposes of negligence, what is legal harm?
105For purposes of negligence, what is physical harm?
106What are the three basic types of legal harm in negligence?
107What is the but-for test for actual causation?
108What is the concurrent-causes doctrine?
109What is the substantial-factor test for actual causation?
110For purposes of negligence, what are the major theories under which causation may be proven?
111Can a tort plaintiff satisfy the burden of production on the element of causation with only circumstantial evidence and no direct evidence?
112What is the difference between general and specific causation?
113A drunk driver got in his car and started driving home. The driver negligently nodded off at the wheel. At the same time, a dog’s owner negligently let the dog run loose and chase a jogger. The jogger ran across an intersection to escape the aggressive dog. At that moment, the driver awoke as the car was speeding through a red light, striking the jogger in the intersection. The jogger suffered serious injuries. The jogger later sued both the driver and the dog owner for negligence.Can the jogger prove the element of actual causation against both the driver and the dog owner for the jogger’s injuries?
114A supervisor on a construction site spotted a plane flying low overhead with smoke streaming from its engines. The supervisor sounded a warning siren. An independent contractor on the site quickly ducked into a safety position. The contractor was wearing a safety helmet issued by the supervisor. The plane crashed into the construction site. A large piece of debris from the plane landed on the contractor’s head and caused a significant injury. The contractor sued the operator of the construction site for negligence. The contractor’s expert testified that the safety helmet had an internal crack that rendered it unsafe for ordinary construction use and that the operator knew of the defect.Has the contractor established the element of actual causation?
115For purposes of a negligence claim, what is the doctrine of alternative causes?
116What is the doctrine of market-share liability?
117What is the market-share test for causation used in some products-liability cases?
118For purposes of the substantial-factor test for actual causation, must each force that combined to cause the plaintiff’s harm be the result of someone’s negligence?
119Generally, if a defendant’s negligence causes harm, is the defendant liable for the full extent of the harm caused even if a later, independent force would have caused the same harm anyway?
120What is the alternative-causes doctrine?