In-Depth Articles On
Virginia & North Carolina Law

You’ve been injured. Maybe another driver ran a red light and hit your car. Or a store owner didn’t fix a broken step, and you fell and broke your wrist. You know someone else was at fault, and you’re wondering, Do I have a legal claim?

The answer might depend on something called “proximate cause,” and understanding what that is could be the difference between getting compensation for your injuries and walking away empty-handed.

At Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp, our Virginia Beach personal injury attorneys have handled complex negligence cases for decades across Virginia and North Carolina. Our firm has been recognized as a Tier 1 “Best Law Firm®” in personal injury litigation—a reflection of our dedication to success and excellence in court.

In this article, we break down one of the most important concepts in personal injury law in a way that makes sense, even if you’ve never stepped foot in a courtroom. Meanwhile, if you or a loved one has been injured and you have questions, contact us at 833-997-1774 for a free consultation.

What Are the Four Elements of Negligence?

When someone unintentionally causes you to suffer an injury, your personal injury claim or case is based on the concept of what is called “negligence.” As the harmed party, you have to prove that the other party was negligent to recover compensation. To do that, you have to prove four things. You can think of them as four legs of a table—if one leg is missing, the table (your claim) falls apart.

Duty

This means that the person who caused you harm owed a legal responsibility in the first place. For example, all drivers generally have a duty to follow traffic laws and drive with reasonable care. Store owners have a duty to warn you of hazards on the premises.

Breach of Duty

This means what it sounds like­—the person who owed a duty of care broke that duty or, in other words, they didn’t do what they were supposed to do. The driver ran the red light, or the store owner ignored the broken step for weeks and did not place a sign warning customers of the danger.

Causation

This is where it can get interesting, and it’s the part of the “table” we’re talking about in this article.  Causation breaks down into two parts, so to speak.  “Actual causation” means the person’s breach of duty actually caused your injury. Proximate causation, more specifically, means that the harm suffered was reasonably foreseeable. To prevail on your negligence claim, you must prove both actual and proximate cause.

Damages

You had to have suffered some harm to be able to recover compensation. That means, for example, that you had to pay medical bills, you had to miss work, or you went through pain and suffering. You can’t sue for negligence if you weren’t actually hurt or didn’t actually suffer any damages.

What Is Proximate Cause?

Many cases are lost or won on the issue of “proximate cause,” which is about fairness and foreseeability. The law says that for a person to be held responsible for an injury, their actions must have been those that a reasonable person could have expected would cause harm.

For example, a driver who speeds through a red light could reasonably foresee that they might cause a collision at the intersection. If, however, half an hour later, traffic backs up because of that crash and another driver miles away gets into a separate accident with someone else because that person was following too closely in traffic, the original driver probably wouldn’t be held liable. The connection to that separate collision would be too remote and not legally foreseeable.

A proximate cause, in other words, means that the event was sufficiently related to the injury such that the event was the cause of that injury. The law asks: Could a reasonable person have predicted this harm would result from this action? If yes, there’s proximate cause. If no, the case is likely to be unsuccessful.

How Does Negligence Per Se Affect This?

Sometimes, breaking a law automatically establishes that someone owed and breached their duty of care. This is called “negligence per se,” and it describes when someone violated a safety law or regulation and caused the type of harm that the law was designed to prevent.

For example, if a driver was speeding at 70 miles per hour in a 35-mph zone and hit you, the fact that they broke the speed limit law can automatically establish the duty and breach elements of negligence. In that case, you wouldn’t have to prove that they owed you a duty and breached it—the fact that they were speeding and hit you accomplishes that. You do, however, still have to prove proximate cause, i.e., that the driver’s violation of the law was what caused your injury and that the harm was reasonably foreseeable.

Imagine someone driving at night with a broken taillight, for example. That is technically a violation of the law. Say, however, that the driver with the broken taillight was rear-ended by someone who was not looking at the road because they were looking at their phone.  In that case, it is likely that the taillight had no effect on the collision—the distracted driving caused the collision. The taillight violation may be negligent per se, but the argument would go that it wasn’t the proximate cause of the collision and resulting injury.

How Does Contributory Negligence Affect This?

In Virginia, you cannot recover damages in a negligence claim if you at all contributed to your injuries due to your own negligence. This is called “contributory negligence,” and while it can be a harsh rule, it is nonetheless a complete bar to recovery in the Commonwealth of Virginia if you were even one percent at fault yourself. Virginia is one of only a few states that still follow the pure contributory negligence rule. In other states, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault.

The concept of proximate cause is extremely important when contributory negligence is alleged, and it may be the one thing that may still save your case. Like the defendant’s negligence, your own part in the accident must also be a proximate cause of the injury, not just a background factor. So, for example, if you were distracted while walking lawfully in a crosswalk and you were struck by a driver, a judge or jury may find that the driver’s speed—not your distraction—was the true proximate cause of the harm, allowing you to still recover your damages.

This distinction can determine whether an injured person receives full compensation or none at all.

Why Does Proximate Cause Matter So Much?

Here’s why all this may matter a lot to your case: proximate cause is typically a question for a jury to decide, and being able to get in front of a jury can provide leverage in obtaining a fair settlement.  Insurance companies know that a case can often go either way if proximate cause is a genuine issue. If that is up in the air, they will be much more willing to settle the case before rolling the dice.

At Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp, we work to build a strong argument that proximate cause exists—that the defendant’s actions directly and foreseeably caused your injuries, and that your own contributory negligence was not the cause of your injuries. When we can do that, the insurance company for the other side knows they are likely to face jury exposure, and that can encourage them to be more open to settlement negotiations in your favor.

How A Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help

This is just one example of how complicated a personal injury claim can be. Our experienced attorneys understand how to build the proximate cause connection in your case. We know how to take cases from initial investigation all the way through trial if necessary, and we understand that establishing proximate cause is often the linchpin of a successful claim.

If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to someone else’s negligence, contact us right away. We’ll work to secure the evidence needed to show proximate cause, as we did for our client, a long-haul tractor-trailer driver from Georgia, who was struck by a forklift. The insurance company for the lumber distributor offered only $250,000 in full settlement, which we advised our client was not enough to cover his medical costs. We moved the case to circuit court, where we helped negotiate a $750,000 settlement less than two months before trial.

We have several locations to serve you, including offices in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

 

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