Negligence Per Se

Legal jargon can be confusing—too often, important information is made more complicated than it needs to be. Andrew Kryder, Esq., founding partner of our personal injury law firm, created this legal glossary to make complex legal terms easy to understand. This article will explain what negligence per se means and will provide examples of how it is used.

Negligence per se is a legal concept that can simplify proving fault in personal injury cases. When someone violates a safety law or regulation designed to protect others, and someone is injured as a result, the law may treat that violation as automatic evidence of negligence. Here’s what you need to know about negligence per se and how it could impact your personal injury claim.

What Does “Negligence Per Se” Mean?

Negligence per se means “negligence in itself” in Latin. It applies when a person or business breaks a specific law that is meant to protect people from a certain type of danger, especially where that law should be understood and followed by a reasonable person under similar circumstances.

If the broken law—such as a traffic violation—was intended to prevent the kind of harm that actually occurred and to protect people like the injured person, this violation can help establish that the defendant breached their duty of care and can be considered negligent for a resulting injury.

When Does “Negligence Per Se” Apply?

Per se negligence typically comes into play when someone fails to comply with a law under circumstances where compliance is clearly necessary:

• There is a law, statute, or regulation that sets a clear standard of conduct (such as a traffic law).
• That law was enacted to protect a specific group of people and to prevent a certain type of harm.
• Someone violates the law.
• The person harmed is among the people the law was meant to protect.
• The injury that occurred is the kind the law aimed to prevent.

What Is an Example of “Negligence Per Se”?

Imagine a driver commits a traffic violation by running a red light, violating a traffic law that is designed to prevent accidents and protect both motorists and pedestrians. If the driver’s violation causes a crash and injures another person, this situation could be considered negligent—and specifically negligence per se, because the traffic law exists to prevent those exact injuries. By running the red light, the defendant breached their duty to follow the law—a duty a reasonable person would have understood the importance of obeying.

Is Strict Liability Negligence the Same as “Negligence Per Se”?

No. Strict liability is a rule that holds someone responsible for harm even if they weren’t being “careless” or “negligent.” Unlike negligence per se, which assumes someone is at fault because they broke a specific law (like a speed limit), strict liability doesn’t care about rules or effort. It applies to naturally dangerous things, like keeping a wild animal as a pet or selling a broken product. If someone gets hurt, the person in charge pays for the damage regardless of how careful they tried to be.

Why Does Understanding “Negligence Per Se” Matter?

Negligence per se makes the legal process clearer for injured people by setting an objective standard: it looks at whether a person taking reasonable care would have obeyed the violated safety law under similar circumstances.

If you or a loved one has been injured because someone ignored a law that should have been followed, this doctrine can make it easier to prove fault. You still need to show that the violation directly caused your injuries and that the law was meant to protect you from that kind of harm.

If you’re unsure whether your situation qualifies, it’s always a good idea to get guidance about your options and next steps. Let us help answer your questions about negligence per se and how to establish negligence in personal injury law. Reach out to us for straightforward, professional advice and peace of mind.