A dependent intervening cause is something that was intended, reasonably foreseeable or sufficiently related to the defendant’s initial act(s) . ... A dependent intervening cause does not break the chain of causation between the defendant’s act and the victim’s injury and therefore is not available as defense.
What is intervening cause in criminal law?
An event that occurs after a party’s improper or dangerous action and before the damage that could otherwise have been caused by the dangerous act, thereby breaking the chain of causation between the original act and the harm to the injured person , is known as an “intervening cause.” The presence of an intervening ...
What is an example of an intervening cause?
An intervening cause is any event in an accident that occurred after the actions of the defendant (i.e. the person being sued) and contributed to the injury of the plaintiff. ... The defendant would still likely be to blame for the incident. Example of Intervening Cause. For instance, take a vehicle accident .
What is the effect of an intervening cause?
In tort law, an intervening cause is an event that occurs after a tortfeasor’s initial act of negligence and causes injury/harm to a victim . An intervening cause will generally absolve the tortfeasor of liability for the victim’s injury only if the event is deemed a superseding cause.
What are the two types of intervening acts?
- Dependant intervening causes are set in motion by the defendant and will usually not relieve the defendant of liability unless it is an extraordinary response. ...
- Independent intervening causes are events that arise totally independent of any action by the defendant.
What is the difference between an intervening cause and a superseding cause?
An intervening cause is any event that occurs after the defendant’s actions and caused harm to the plaintiff. ... If the intervening cause and its results could not have been foreseen , it is considered to be a superseding cause.
What is an example of proximate cause?
Examples of Proximate Cause in a Personal Injury Case
If injuries only occurred because of the actions a person took, proximate causation is present. For example, if a driver injures another after running a red light and hitting a car that had a green light , the driver had a duty to not run the red like.
What is an example of contributory negligence?
Contributory negligence means that an injured party shares responsibility for the accident that leads to their injuries. For example, a passenger is injured in a motor vehicle accident , isn’t wearing a seatbelt and is ejected from the vehicle.
What is a dependent intervening force?
A dependent intervening force is an act of a third person that is considered a normal response to the situation created by the defendant’s negligence . Since such forces arise directly because of the defendant’s negligence they are considered foreseeable and will not relieve the defendant of liability.
What is an example of a superseding cause?
An abnormal, unpredictable, or highly improbable event that occurs after the defendant’s negligence is known as a “superseding cause” and relieves the defendant of liability. For example, suppose a defendant negligently blocks a road causing the plaintiff to make a detour in her automobile .
What is foreseeable consequence?
An action is said to have “foreseeable consequences” if it can reasonably be assumed that it will cause a certain effect . This is a key test when determining if an action is considered negligence, as a person can only be considered liable if their actions breached a duty of care.
What is an example of comparative negligence?
Comparative negligence states use the assigned blame to limit the amount of damages a plaintiff can recover . For example, if the judge assigns 70% fault to the defendant and 30% to the plaintiff, the plaintiff may only be able to recover 70% of the damages, rather than the full 100%.
Are criminal acts superseding causes?
Other examples of superseding causes that are usually deemed unforeseeable: acts of God (i.e., earthquakes) criminal acts of third persons (i.e., burglary ), and. intentional torts of third persons (i.e., assault, battery, false imprisonment).
What is intervening cause in insurance?
310. 57. Page 2. intervening cause. An intervening cause is one that satisfies two criteria: (a) it is something other than a normal incident of the risk created by an earlier cause, and (b) it so overshadows that other cause that it is treated as being the sole true and effective cause of the loss .
What is a but for cause?
Legal Definition of but-for
: of or relating to the necessary cause (as a negligent act) without which a particular result (as damage) would not have occurred a but-for test of causation — compare substantial factor.
What is meant by comparative negligence?
A tort rule for allocating damages when both parties are at least somewhat at fault. In a situation where both the plaintiff and the defendant were negligent, the jury allocates fault , usually as a percentage (for example, a jury might find that the plaintiff was 30% at fault and the defendant was 70% at fault).
