Duty of Care

Establishing a duty of care is the first step to proving negligence in most personal injury claims. If someone owes you a duty of care, they have a responsibility to act in a reasonable manner, with attention, caution and prudence, in order to prevent causing injury or harm.

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Some duties of care are general responsibilities we all owe to each other. For example, a driver owes other motorists, passengers, bicyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians a duty of care to drive safely and not injure anyone. If a driver causes a car accident and injures you because they ran a red light, they violated their duty of care. Another example of violating a general duty of care could be a neighbor cutting down a tree on your property that, when it fell, caused damage to your roof.

Other personal injury cases depend on the relationship between the plaintiff and defendant:

  • Workers’ compensation — Employers owe their workers a reasonably safe working environment, relative the type of employment (there are inherent risks in being a police officer or construction worker that do not apply to office workers).
  • Medical malpractice — A doctor or other healthcare professional has a responsibility to treat a condition how a prudent doctor in the same field would, also known as the standard of care. In order to owe you a standard of care, a doctor-patient relationship must have been established.
  • Product Liability — Manufacturers have a responsibility to safely design, test and manufacture a product, and to warn of any inherent risks that come with a product’s foreseeable use.
  • Premises liability — Business owners, landlords and other property owners owe a responsibility to keep a property safe for people who are lawfully present.
  • Dog bites — Pet owners need to ensure their pets are in their control and not able to harm anyone.

Some duties of care depend on the plaintiff’s actions as well. If you provoke a dog that bites you, are injured when trespassing on a property or use a product unreasonably, you would not have a claim as your actions negate the other party’s liability to keep you safe.

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