When someone is injured due to a party’s negligence or carelessness, it is up to the insured person to prove that negligence caused the accident. However, proving negligence can be complicated. Sometimes more than one person is at fault or a third party.
Proximate cause in a personal injury case refers to the legal cause of the accident that caused the injury. In simple personal injury cases where the actions of one person directly cause an accident and injury for another, this is a proximate cause.
The injured person must prove negligence and that the actions of the company or other person caused them to become injured and that without the negligence, it would never have occurred.
In a personal injury case, an intervening cause is something that happens after the defendant’s negligence that worsens the plaintiff’s injury. The critical point is that the intervening cause must occur “after” the negligence which caused the injury.
It’s important to note that an intervening cause can be something another person does or attributed to an act of nature, such as a weather-related event (icy roads, etc.). When this occurs, the negligent party will be held partially responsible for the injury.
A superseding cause is when another event occurs simultaneously or just before the accident. The liability or negligence for the accident might be attributed to a particular source, but with a superseding cause, it may remove the person’s or company’s liability altogether. In the legal arena, a superseding cause is a powerful defense against liability.
An example of a superseding cause would be warning labels on products. If the consumer removes them and ignores the warning and is injured, if they sue the manufacturer, the defendant’s lawyer could argue that a superseding cause was the consumer removing the warning labels and did not follow the proper use instructions.
The major difference between an intervening cause and a superseding cause is that a superseding cause may eliminate liability during a defense, whereas an intervening cause will not. It may, however, lessen the amount of responsibility but will not remove it altogether. Superseding causes transfer the blame to another party or a natural event.
Personal injury cases are often challenging to prove. When they include superseding or intervening causes, it becomes even more complex. Before filing a personal injury claim, it’s essential to discuss your case with an experienced attorney who knows the regional laws and can help you win your case.
Contact Neufeld Law Firm today for help with your personal injury case. We are highly trained lawyers who specialize in these types of issues, and we want to help you!
Neufeld, Kleinberg & Pinkiert, PA handles a variety of personal-injury cases. We understand that you are concerned about getting healthy, getting back to work, paying your bills and of course, being fully compensated for your loss. Contact us to start the path to wholeness from your injury today.
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