In the state of Tennessee, a person can be held legally responsible for injuries caused to them by the irresponsibility of another person. This is known as negligence. A person can be determined to be negligent by acting or failing to act in such a way that someone becomes injured or suffers a loss.
The idea of negligence was developed under English Law. It was considered a cause of action during the 18th century. It incorporated the legal concept of failure to act. The belief of a person of having implied or expressed responsibility was the basis for the modern legal concept of duty. The legal concept of negligence came to the United States from Great Britain as part of common law. The only exception to having this form of law is Louisiana. There have been a few changes over the years, but the concept of negligence has not had any substantial changes since the 18th century.
There are certain elements of a negligence claim that must be established during a trial. A defendant must owe a duty to another person. There needs to be an expectation of one person to another to do an action or not do an action that provides safety. It needs to be established that the defendant did or did not perform this duty. Performing or not performing this duty resulted in a plaintiff experiencing an injury. The defendant’s action or lack of action needs to be the cause of injury to the plaintiff. Injuries experienced by the plaintiff have to be real and quantifiable.
The concept of contributory negligence concerns a person’s behavior that causes them to be placed at risk. It is based on the idea that a person has a responsibility to behave in a reasonable manner. When someone does not behave in a responsible way, and they experience an injury that causes them harm, this person could be held partially or entirely responsible for their injury. This could happen even if another party was involved the accident. If a pedestrian walks in front of a car where there is not a crosswalk or stop sign without looking and gets hit, who is at fault? Should the person file a lawsuit against the driver of the car, the driver’s attorney will try to establish the pedestrian’s contributory negligence in the accident.
This is a method of determining damages in an accident. The goal is to determine the amount of negligence for each party involved in an accident. Prior to comparative negligence, if a person contributed to an accident at any level, they were not able to collect compensation for their injuries. This method is believed to prevent unfair outcomes in accidents. With pure comparative negligence, a plaintiff’s damages are calculated. Their compensation award is then reduced based on the plaintiff’s level of contribution to the accident. With modified comparative negligence, a plaintiff will not be awarded compensation if they are determined to have equal or more responsibility in causing the accident.
The state of Tennessee utilizes a system for determining negligence called modified comparative negligence, or the fifty percent rule. This means a person is only able to obtain compensation for damages if it is concluded their contribution in the causing the accident and injury is 49 percent or less. Should it be determined that an injured person’s level of contribution to the accident and injury was 50 percent or more, they are not able to recover damages for injuries resulting from an accident.
