If you were injured because of someone else’s actions in Texas, you may be entitled to compensation through a personal injury claim. Most cases in this area of law, from car accidents to slips and falls, are built on the legal theory of negligence. This concept is the foundation of holding parties liable when their behavior causes harm to another person.
Learning how negligence works is essential for the success of your personal injury case. Continue reading for more information about this critical topic under Texas law.
What Does Negligence Mean?
Negligence occurs when a person or business fails to act as a reasonably careful individual would under similar circumstances. It’s not about intent; rather, it’s about failing to use reasonable care and causing harm as a result.
For example, if a driver texts while driving and causes a crash, that likely constitutes negligence. Similarly, if a store owner ignores a spill that leads to a customer’s fall, that’s also probably negligence. In both situations, someone failed to act responsibly, leading to another’s injury.
Under Texas law, those who were harmed due to negligence have the right to recover compensation for the losses they’ve suffered, such as medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. However, not every accident is automatically the result of negligence. Certain legal elements must be proven.
The Four Elements of Negligence in a Texas Personal Injury Case
To win a negligence claim in Texas, the injured party (known as the plaintiff) must prove four main elements. If even one element is missing, the case won’t succeed.
Duty of Care
The first step is showing that the defendant owed you a duty of care. This duty arises when someone has a legal obligation to act in a reasonably safe way to avoid harming others.
For instance:
- Drivers have a duty to follow traffic laws and drive attentively
- Property owners must keep their premises safe for lawful visitors
- Doctors have a duty to provide competent medical treatment to their patients
This element is often relatively straightforward, though it can be disputed in certain kinds of cases.
Breach of Duty
After establishing that a duty existed, you must show that the defendant breached that duty. A breach occurs when someone’s actions (or failure to act) fall below what a reasonably careful person would do in the same situation.
Examples include speeding through a red light and failing to clean up a wet floor in a grocery store.
Causation
The third element connects the breach of duty to your injury. You must show that the defendant’s careless actions directly caused your harm.
Texas law recognizes two forms of causation:
- Actual cause: The injury would not have occurred “but for” the defendant’s conduct
- Proximate cause: The harm was a foreseeable result of the defendant’s negligence
Proximate cause is usually the more difficult to prove of the two.
Damages
Finally, you must prove that you suffered measurable damages because of the defendant’s conduct. This includes both economic damages (like medical expenses) and non-economic losses (like pain and suffering).
If all four of these elements are proven “by a preponderance of the evidence,” which is roughly a 51% or higher likelihood, the defendant can be held legally responsible for your injuries.
Texas’s Modified Comparative Negligence Rule
Texas follows a modified comparative negligence system. If you’re partly responsible for your own injuries, you can still recover compensation, but your award will be reduced by your percentage of fault. However, if you’re more than 50% at fault, you cannot recover any damages.
Here’s an example: If you were injured in an auto accident and found 20% at fault for speeding, while the other driver was 80% at fault for texting and driving, you could still recover 80% of your total damages.
This rule makes it crucial to have an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side who can minimize your share of fault and protect the value of your claim.
Contact a Houston Personal Injury Lawyer at Omar Khawaja Personal Injury Lawyers for a Free Initial Consultation
Negligence law is at the heart of most personal injury claims, but proving it takes skill and experience. If you’ve been harmed in an accident because someone else failed to act responsibly, you may have a valid legal case against them for compensation.
Schedule a free consultation at (281) 888-2339 with a qualified Houston personal injury attorney today to ask any questions you might have and learn more about your legal options, including your ability to pursue a negligence claim. The team at Omar Khawaja Personal Injury Lawyers is here to explain your rights.