You’ll often hear the term “negligence” associated with personal injury claims. In order to have a valid claim, the accident victim must have been injured as a result of negligence. What does it mean? The law in Texas and most states is some variation of “failure to use ordinary care (of a reasonably prudent and careful person) in the same or similar circumstances.” Yes, I know that definition is one only a lawyer would come up with and one that is not really helpful.

In English, the heart of negligence is just not being careful and harming someone. We all know that there are safety rules for everything we do that can harm someone. These rules are literally created in the blood and tears of those who were harmed before someone woke up and said, there is a safer way to do this activity. These public safety rules really illustrate what negligence is in that circumstance and take the idea of negligence and provides a concrete picture of what it looks like in real life.

For example, a driver runs a red light and causes an accident. We all know that careful drivers follow driving safety rules, including not running red lights. When a driver does not follow a safety rule when driving and harms another, that driver has acted negligently and can be held accountable for the damages that resulted because careful drivers follow driving safety rules. Safety rules for the activity really help illustrate what negligence is whether the injury occurred on the job site; from the operation of heavy equipment; from lack of maintenance or poor driving of an 18 Wheeler; from poorly designed or manufactured products; or in the operating room.