Glossary

Contributory negligence

The older rule, still followed in five US jurisdictions, under which any fault of your own bars recovery completely.

Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia retain contributory negligence. Under it, a person one percent responsible for their own injury recovers nothing at all — fault is not compared, it is a gate. Narrow exceptions exist. Last clear chance can preserve a claim where the defendant could have avoided the accident and did not. A defendant who acted wilfully or wantonly generally cannot rely on the defence. Young children are treated as incapable of it. Some statutes carve out specific situations, such as seat-belt non-use or vulnerable road users. Because the consequence is total, this is the single most important thing to establish about a jurisdiction before valuing a claim in it.

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