Contributory Negligence

Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945

Introduced contributory negligence as a partial defense. Under this, the claimant's damages are calculated and then reduced to account for their partial responsibility. The reduction is expressed as a percentage.

Contributory Negligence - Claimant Partially to Blame

Contributory negligence occurs when the claimant is partially to blame for the incident, as seen in Brannon v Airtours.

Contributory Negligence - Claimant's Actions Made Injuries Worse

Contributory negligence occurs when the claimant is not to blame for the accident, but their actions made their injuries or losses worse than they should have been, as seen in Froom v Butcher.

Breach of Duty to Exercise Reasonable Care

Contributory negligence is a result of the claimant's breach of duty to exercise reasonable care. This is an objective test, where the claimant's behavior must fall below the standard of a reasonable person and contribute to their loss.

Error of Judgment in Emergency Situations

A claimant will not be considered contributorily negligent if they fell below the standard of care due to an error in judgment, particularly in emergency situations. Courts recognize that reasonable people make errors of judgment in such contexts.

Allowance for Children

When deciding what constitutes reasonable care, the courts make allowances for children. They consider what would be reasonably expected of a child of the claimant's age.