Negligence Law in Maryland in Auto Accident Cases

To bring a personal injury claim on negligence, your accident lawyer in Maryland must prove: (1) that the defendant was under a duty to protect the plaintiff from injury, (2) that the defendant breached that duty, (3) that the plaintiff suffered actual injury or loss, and (4) that the loss or injury proximately resulted from the defendant's breach of the duty.

     In personal injury auto accident claims, the defendant’s duty (Element 1) is to protect the plaintiff from injury is generally to operate her vehicle as the “ordinary, reasonable, prudent person” would in similar circumstances. This does not require the defendant to have the skills to avoid a car accident that a regular person would not possess.

     The defendant breached the duty (Element 2) that she owed to you if she fails to comply with the duty to operate her car as an “ordinary, reasonable, prudent” person would. Continuing the example, if the defendant driver fails to reduce her speed to avoid hitting you in the rear, she has breached the appropriate standard of care prescribed by Maryland law. This is the critical issue our attorneys face in a lawsuit involving a car accident: whether the defendant driver violated this reasonable person standard. The determination as to whether the defendant has breached this standard is usually resolved by the jury (or in smaller cases, a judge).

     You must, of course, suffer some actual injury or loss (Element 3). An example is that a Maryland driver has a duty not to pull out on you in traffic when she does not have the right-of-way. If she does anyway, but you swerve and avoid hitting her (even if it was only luck and great driving that saved you), because you have suffered no actual harm, the elements of negligence have not been met. Although she was negligent for driving improperly, there is no personal injury law suit without damages or injuries.

     Finally, your injuries must be the proximate cause of the breach of duty (Element 4). Going back to the rear end car accident example, let’s say you are rear-ended and have a herniated disc after the accident. However, the evidence shows that you had a herniated disc before the accident and there was no increase in pain, the injury from your herniated disc is unchanged. In this case, there would be no recovery in Maryland (or anywhere) because your injuries were not caused by the accident.

 

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