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Comparative Negligence
Comparative negligence is a legal principle used in tort law to determine how responsibility for an accident or injury is shared among the parties involved. Under this principle, each party’s degree of fault is assessed based on their contribution to the incident, and any damages awarded are reduced in proportion to their share of negligence.
There are several types of comparative negligence rules:
- Pure Comparative Negligence: A party can recover damages even if they are mostly at fault, but the award is reduced by their percentage of fault.
- Modified Comparative Negligence: A party can only recover damages if their fault is below a certain threshold (commonly 50% or 51%, depending on the state). If their fault exceeds this threshold, they cannot recover any damages.
- Slight/Gross Negligence: Some states use this approach, where recovery is allowed only if the plaintiff’s negligence is considered “slight” and the defendant’s is “gross.”
Comparative negligence is widely used in the United States, especially in cases involving auto accidents, but it can also apply to other types of personal injury claims. It is considered a more equitable system than the older contributory negligence rule, which barred plaintiffs from any recovery if they were even slightly at fault.