When a spinal cord injury victim files a personal injury lawsuit against the party who caused the incident that injured them, the at-fault party may use the following as defense:
- Assumption of Risk: If the victim was involved in a high-risk activity at the time of the accident, the at-fault party may try to argue that since the victim chose to participate in the activity willingly, they were aware of the risk and therefore the at-fault party is not liable.
- Contributory and Comparative Negligence: The at-fault party may argue that the victim is partially to blame for the accident that injured them. Contributory negligence is when the victim was careless and that contributed to the accident and injury. Comparative negligence is when both the victim and the at-fault party were both negligent.