If you were to ask a lawyer to define negligence, that same member of the legal profession might say that it means acting in a careless and neglectful manner. Hence, a closer look at that meaning would entail going after a definition of careless and also a definition of neglectful.
Defining careless behavior
Someone that carried out an action without having reasoned out the lack of care in the same action could be held guilty of careless behavior. That person’s conduct has fallen below an expected level. In legal terms the act of behaving in such a manner constitutes a breach of care. If someone had a duty of care towards a certain person, a breach of care would qualify as a breach of duty.
Defining neglectful behavior
Behaviors that are deemed acceptable in some circumstances may not be view as acceptable in a different circumstance. For example, it is OK to let a dog attack a prowler on your property, but it is not OK to lose control of a pet, and let it bite a friend or neighbor. You need to keep that example in mind, as you try to learn the meaning of neglectful. A person has been neglectful if he or she has failed to do what an average person would have done in the same circumstances. By the same token a person’s neglectful manner might push him or her to perform an act that the average person would never carry out in the same circumstances.
How the definitions of negligence apply to making a claim in a personal injury case
No person should disturb the peace. Under the eyes of the law, each person has a duty of care towards those with whom he or she comes in contact. That applies to the type of contact we have day-to-day, under any circumstance in our daily lives. If someone has breached that duty of care, the guilty person has been negligent. Sometimes that negligence can cause harm to someone else. The person that has been harmed may have suffered damages. If that is the case, then the harmed person has the fight to file a personal injury case and to seek monetary compensation.
Not all victims should expect such compensation
Sometimes a person can get careless about their own movements. In that instance, their movements could trigger an accident, but not one that could lead to a personal injury case. The victim’s own actions would be at least partially responsible for any injury. By the same token, if an injured victim had failed to hire a good injury lawyer in Edmonton, the same victim’s injuries might get overlooked or even dismissed. An insurance company might refuse to cover the victim’s expenses. It might base that refusal on the contention that another ongoing medial problem had caused the victim’s existing symptoms, the ones that were supposedly linked to the accident.