The rule of law under which an act or omission of plaintiff is a contributing cause of injury and a possible bar to a complete recovery
Common law defense blocking an injured person from recovering damages if he or she has contributed in any way to the accident
failure to take enough care to avoid or prevent an accident, so that you are partly responsible for any loss or damage caused. In law, behaviour that contributes to one's own injury or loss and fails to meet the standard of prudence that one should observe for one's own good. Contributory negligence of the plaintiff is frequently pleaded in defense to a charge of negligence. In Engish law and in the law of many U.S. states, if the plaintiff is shown to have contributed through negligence to his own injury, recovery may still be allowed, but provision is made for an equitable reduction of damages. Contributory negligence has been criticized by some authorities because it effectively excuses one party (the defendant) even though both were negligent
Failure by a person who has been injured through the fault of another to have taken reasonable care for his/her own safety, so that he/she can be said to have contributed to the damage sustained Formerly a plaintiff guilty of contributory negligence could not law recover damages against the defendant, but damages may now be recovered on a reduced scale according to the degree of negligence contributed Personal injury in the workplace may also be compensated through workers compensation
Negligence of the damaged person that helped to cause the accident Some states bar recovery to the plaintiff if the plaintiff was contributorily negligent to any extent Others apply comparative negligence
if a person is deemed to have contributed to their own injury then, even if a third party can be blamed for the injury, the person's own acts will be held to be partly responsible and may affect the level of damages a person would receive were the matter to proceed to court
A legal doctrine that says if the plaintiff in a civil action for negligence also was negligent, he or she cannot recover damages from the defendant for the defendant's negligence Most jurisdictions have abandoned the doctrine of contributory negligence in favor of comparative negligence
A defense to a negligence action in which it is asserted that the claimant failed to meet the standard required for his or her own protection, and that that failure contributed to the loss
A doctrine which prohibits recovery of damages by a plaintiff whose own behavior contributed even slightly to the event which caused the plaintiff's injuries - as distinguished from comparative negligence
The failure to exercise care by a plaintiff which contributed to the plaintiff's injury
A defence claiming that the plaintiff is at least partially responsible for the harm that has occurred
the negligence of the injured party which is recognized as conduct which contributed to the loss
Many accidents are the fault of both parties who are involved in the occurrence The plaintiff who sues another party for damages also may be guilty of some negligence, which is a concurrent cause of the damage Such a party is guilty of contributory negligence
Care-lessness of the injured person that helped to cause the accident in which he was injured
A principle of law recognising that injured persons may have contributed to their own injury For example, by agreeing to be a passenger in a car being driven by someone that you know to be drunk If you are subsequently injured you may be said to have been contributory negligent
The negligence of a person which, while not being the primary cause of a tort, nevertheless combined with the act or omission of the primary defendant to cause the tort, and without which the tort would not have occurred
Common law defense against negligence that states that if an individual contributes to his or to her own loss in any way, then someone else cannot be held liable for the loss
When both parties to a claim for damages arising from tort were at fault, neither party recovered anything This was the historic common law rule of Butterfield v Forrester, (1809) 11 East 60, 103 E R 926 (K B ), where even a plaintiff who was only 1% at fault could not collect from the defendant who may have been 99% at fault It was a very harsh doctrine based on a very strict moral rule of causation that the plaintiff should not profit from his own fault Contributory negligence, has been replaced in most legal systems by proportionate fault/comparative fault See J G Fleming, The Law of Torts, 9 Ed , The Law Book Co , Sydney, 1998, at p 306; Grime, 1991, p 249; Tetley, Int'l C of L , 1994 at pp 476-477, 479-481, 488; Marine Liability Act, S C 2001 c 6, Part II sect 17(2) effectively codifying Bow Valley (Husky) Ltd v St John Shipbuilding Ltd [1997] 3 S C R 1210
Carelessness of the injured person that helped to cause the accident in which he was injured Some states bar recovery to the plaintiff if the plaintiff was contributorily negligent