accident attorney Negligence and Liability 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What standard of care is typically applied to determine negligence in accident cases?
- The reasonable person standard (Correct answer)
- The expert professional standard
- The subjective intent standard
- The strict liability standard
Correct answer: The reasonable person standard
Negligence is measured against what a reasonably prudent person would have done under the same circumstances.
Question 2: What is strict liability in accident cases?
- Liability imposed without requiring proof of negligence or intent (Correct answer)
- Liability only for intentional wrongdoing
- Liability reduced by the plaintiff's fault
- Liability limited to economic damages only
Correct answer: Liability imposed without requiring proof of negligence or intent
Strict liability holds a party responsible for damages regardless of fault, often applied to abnormally dangerous activities and defective products.
Question 3: Which of the following is an example of premises liability?
- A customer slipping on a wet floor in a grocery store (Correct answer)
- A car rear-ending another on the highway
- A doctor performing the wrong surgery
- A manufacturer selling a defective toy
Correct answer: A customer slipping on a wet floor in a grocery store
Premises liability holds property owners responsible for injuries caused by unsafe conditions on their property.
Question 4: What duty of care does a property owner owe to a trespasser under common law?
- Only to refrain from willful or wanton harm (Correct answer)
- The same duty owed to an invited guest
- No duty whatsoever
- A duty to warn of all known hazards
Correct answer: Only to refrain from willful or wanton harm
At common law, landowners owe trespassers only a minimal duty to avoid deliberately or recklessly injuring them.
Question 5: What is negligence per se?
- Negligence established by a defendant's violation of a statute designed to protect the plaintiff (Correct answer)
- Negligence that is obvious without expert testimony
- Negligence inferred from the accident type alone
- Negligence that is automatically criminal
Correct answer: Negligence established by a defendant's violation of a statute designed to protect the plaintiff
Negligence per se uses a defendant's statutory violation as automatic evidence of breach of duty when the statute was meant to prevent the type of harm suffered.
Question 6: In a multi-car accident, how is fault typically allocated among multiple defendants?
- By percentage of each party's contribution to the accident under comparative fault rules (Correct answer)
- The last driver to act bears all liability
- The richest defendant pays all damages
- Fault is split equally among all drivers
Correct answer: By percentage of each party's contribution to the accident under comparative fault rules
Modern comparative fault systems apportion liability among defendants based on each party's percentage of responsibility.
accident attorney Negligence and Liability 1
What standard of care is typically applied to determine negligence in accident cases?