Assumption of the Risk in Maryland
The idea of assumption of the risk is not only a legal term but it has also made its way into the popular culture. If you are dating a person who has twice been convicted of theft and he/she robs you after you break up, your friends might say that you "assumed the risk" by dating a thief. The idea is a simple one: you lose the right to complain about the harm done if you wrongfully or foolishly unnecessarily exposed yourself to that risk.
Under Maryland law, this common sense notion is embedded in our tort laws. If you have assumed the risk for your injuries if you have knowingly and voluntarily assumed the risk inherent in a particular action or inaction that causes an accident, you cannot sue the other person for negligence. For example, if you get on your friend's motorcycle for a race and the motorcycle crashes at 120 miles per hour and you suffer personal injuries, you will be deemed to have assumed the risk of your injuries under Maryland law. Defense lawyers in Maryland love to raise the assumption of the risk defense in personal injury cases. But, as a practical matter, the assumption of the risk defense is applicable in very few personal injury cases in Maryland . Assumption of the risk is not applicable in intentional tort cases.
The defense of assumption of the risk involves two common elements: (1) cognizance of a danger (plaintiff's knowledge and appreciation of the danger) and (2) volition in encountering it. The doctrine is often confused with contributory negligence. The difference between contributory negligence and assumption of the risk is that contributory negligence defeats recovery because it is a cause of the accident which happens, but assumption of the risk defeats recovery because it is a previous abandonment of the right to complain if an accident occurs.
Return to Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Help Center (sample forms, pleadings, etc.)
See New Assumption of the Risk Opinion (2007 case on assumption of the risk in Maryland)