When someone acts carelessly and causes an injury, determining whether they breached a legal duty can be an important part of a personal injury claim. A breach of duty generally occurs when a person or entity fails to meet the standard of care required under the circumstances.
However, showing that someone acted carelessly is not always enough to establish liability. An injured person generally must establish the other elements of negligence and show that the breach caused compensable harm.
What Are the Four Elements of Negligence?
Breach of duty is one of the four elements generally required to establish negligence. These elements are:
- Duty: The defendant owed the injured person a legal duty of care.
- Breach: The defendant failed to meet the applicable standard of care.
- Causation: The defendant’s breach caused the plaintiff’s injury.
- Damages: The plaintiff suffered losses or harm for which compensation may be available.
Each element serves a different purpose. Even when a defendant clearly breached a duty, the injured person generally must still establish that the breach caused their injuries and resulting damages.
What Is a Breach of Duty?
A duty of care is a legal obligation to act with a certain level of care toward another person. A breach occurs when someone’s conduct falls below the standard required under the circumstances.
For example, drivers have duties to others on the road. A driver who fails to exercise reasonable care and creates an unreasonable risk of harm may breach that duty.
The applicable duty is not identical in every situation. A person’s responsibilities can depend on the circumstances, the relationship between the parties, and applicable laws or regulations.
How Is a Breach of Duty Determined?
In many negligence cases, whether someone breached a duty depends on how a reasonably careful person would have acted under similar circumstances. The analysis considers what the defendant did or failed to do in light of the risks that existed at the time.
Factors that may be relevant include:
- The foreseeability of the harm
- The circumstances surrounding the accident
- The defendant’s actions before and during the incident
- Applicable statutes and regulations
- Safety practices or standards that apply to the situation
- Whether reasonable precautions could have reduced the risk
The applicable standard can vary depending on the case. Determining whether conduct amounted to a breach, therefore, requires examining the specific facts rather than simply asking whether an accident occurred.
What Are Examples of a Breach of Duty?
A breach of duty can take many forms. It can involve an unsafe action or a failure to take reasonable precautions when circumstances call for them.
Examples may include:
- A driver texting instead of watching the road
- A motorist running a red light or failing to yield
- A driver following another vehicle too closely
- A property owner failing to address a dangerous condition when there was a duty to do so
- A business failing to take reasonable measures to correct or warn visitors about a hazard
- A commercial driver or trucking company failing to comply with an applicable safety requirement
These actions do not automatically establish liability in every case. The applicable duty, surrounding circumstances, causation, and resulting harm must also be considered.
How Do You Prove a Breach of Duty?
Evidence used to establish a breach depends on the type of accident and the conduct at issue. The goal is generally to show what happened and how the defendant’s actions differed from what the law required under the circumstances.
Relevant evidence may include:
- Photographs and videos
- Witness statements
- Police or accident reports
- Surveillance or dashcam footage
- Maintenance and inspection records
- Electronic or vehicle data
- Business records
- Applicable safety rules or regulations
- Expert testimony when necessary
Some evidence can disappear quickly after an accident. Surveillance recordings may be overwritten, physical conditions can change, and witnesses’ memories may fade. Preserving relevant evidence can therefore, be important when determining whether a duty was breached.
Does Breaking a Law Automatically Mean Someone Breached Their Duty?
Not necessarily. A violation of a statute or regulation may provide important evidence of negligence, but its legal effect depends on the applicable law and circumstances.
Some jurisdictions recognize a doctrine known as negligence per se. Under this doctrine, violating certain laws designed to protect people from a particular type of harm may establish or affect the breach element of a negligence claim when the required conditions are met.
However, not every legal violation qualifies as negligence per se, and establishing a statutory violation does not necessarily resolve the entire case. Issues such as causation and damages may still need to be proven.
How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help Establish a Breach of Duty?
Determining whether someone breached a duty can require more than identifying careless conduct. A personal injury attorney can examine the circumstances of an accident, determine which legal duties may apply, and gather evidence concerning the defendant’s actions.
Depending on the case, an attorney may:
- Investigate how the accident occurred
- Identify potentially responsible parties
- Obtain photographs, recordings, reports, and other evidence
- Review applicable statutes, regulations, and safety requirements
- Obtain relevant business or vehicle records
- Interview witnesses
- Consult qualified experts when necessary
- Evaluate how the breach relates to the injuries and damages claimed
Establishing a breach is only one part of building a negligence claim. An attorney can also evaluate causation, damages, available insurance coverage, and other issues that may affect an injured person’s ability to recover compensation.
Contact Feller & Wendt, LLC for a Free Consultation With a Personal Injury Attorney
Whether someone’s conduct amounts to a breach of duty depends on the facts of the accident and the law that applies. Even when careless conduct appears obvious, establishing negligence requires connecting the breach to the injuries and losses that resulted.
If you were injured and believe another person or entity may be responsible, Feller & Wendt, LLC can review the circumstances and explain your legal options. Contact us today at 801-499-5060 to schedule a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer.
