Res Ipsa Loquitur in Maryland
Res ipsa loquitur is Latin for "the
thing speaks for itself." This phrase stands for an evidentiary
rule personal injury attorneys in Maryland can use in some circumstances
to bring a personal injury action in the absence specific evidence
of negligence. Under this doctrine, plaintiffs may meet its prima
facie burden of proof in a negligence action in the absence of
specific evidence that the defendant was negligent because the
injury would not ordinarily occur in the absence of the defendant's
negligence. For example, if a truck were driving on a newly built
road and the road collapsed, there would be an inference that
the contractor who built the road was responsible. Res ipsa in
Maryland is not absolute negligence: the road contractor's attorney,
in this example, would have the opportunity to rebut the inference
of negligence by proving that road collapsed for a different reason
such as evidence that the truck weighed more than federal or state
regulations allowed.
In Maryland, there are three elements
an attorney must prove in a personal injury case in order to the
create an inference of negligence on the part of a defendant:
(1) a casualty of a kind that does not ordinarily occur absent
negligence, (2) that was caused by an instrumentality exclusively
in the defendant's control, and (3) that was not caused by an
act or omission of the plaintiff. Holzhauer v. Saks &
Co., 346 Md. 328, 335-336 (1997)
Auto accidents and truck accidents
are unfortunately not uncommon occurrences in Maryland. These
accidents occur under a large variety of circumstances under which
different drivers and even non-drivers may be potentially at-fault
for the accident. It is the rare case when only one inference
may be drawn as to the who is at-fault for the accident. Auto
accidents and truck accidents are not typical res ipsa cases.
However, the mere fact that the occurrence is an auto or truck
accident does not ipso facto preclude an accident attorney from
invoking res ipsa to prove negligence.
Among the various types motor vehicle
accidents, there is one scenario in particular in Maryland accident
lawyers have sought consistently to apply the res ipsa loquitur
doctrine. Where a car, truck or motorcycle leaves the road without
a prior collision and thereby causes injury or damage, Maryland
courts will draw an inference of negligence from the occurrence
(assuming the other conditions set forth above are met).
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