AIC 301 Ch4.1 Questions and Correct Answers
Negligence
The failure to exercise the degree of care that a reasonable person in a similar situation would
exercise to avoid harming others.
Tort
A wrongful act or an omission, other than a crime or a breach of contract, that invades a
legally protected right.
Tortfeasor
A person or an organization that has committed a tort.
Plaintiff
The person or entity who files a lawsuit and is named as a party.
Defendant
The party in a lawsuit against whom a complaint is filed.
Legal duty
An element of negligence that exists when parties are in such a relationship that the law
imposes on one party the responsibility for the exercise of care toward the other party.
Four Elements of Negligence
1. Legal Duty
2. Breach of Duty
3. Proximate Cause
4. Actual Injury or Damage
, What created legal duties of care?
Statutes, contracts, and common law (case law).
Statute
A written law passed by a legislative body at either the federal or state level.
Contract
A legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties.
Common law (case law)
Laws that develop out of court decisions in particular cases and establish precedents for
future cases.
Breach of Duty
The failure to conform to the standard of care required in the situation
Reasonable person test
A standard for the degree of care exercised in a situation that is measured by what a
reasonably cautious person would or would not do under similar circumstances.
Common carriers
Airlines, railroads, or trucking companies that furnish transportation to any member of the
public seeking their offered services.
Proximate cause
A cause that, in a natural and continuous sequence unbroken by any new and independent
cause, produces an event and without which the event would not have happened.
Negligence
The failure to exercise the degree of care that a reasonable person in a similar situation would
exercise to avoid harming others.
Tort
A wrongful act or an omission, other than a crime or a breach of contract, that invades a
legally protected right.
Tortfeasor
A person or an organization that has committed a tort.
Plaintiff
The person or entity who files a lawsuit and is named as a party.
Defendant
The party in a lawsuit against whom a complaint is filed.
Legal duty
An element of negligence that exists when parties are in such a relationship that the law
imposes on one party the responsibility for the exercise of care toward the other party.
Four Elements of Negligence
1. Legal Duty
2. Breach of Duty
3. Proximate Cause
4. Actual Injury or Damage
, What created legal duties of care?
Statutes, contracts, and common law (case law).
Statute
A written law passed by a legislative body at either the federal or state level.
Contract
A legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties.
Common law (case law)
Laws that develop out of court decisions in particular cases and establish precedents for
future cases.
Breach of Duty
The failure to conform to the standard of care required in the situation
Reasonable person test
A standard for the degree of care exercised in a situation that is measured by what a
reasonably cautious person would or would not do under similar circumstances.
Common carriers
Airlines, railroads, or trucking companies that furnish transportation to any member of the
public seeking their offered services.
Proximate cause
A cause that, in a natural and continuous sequence unbroken by any new and independent
cause, produces an event and without which the event would not have happened.