When Multiple Negligent Parties Cause An Injury, Which One Is Liable?
Imagine this scenario: you are injured on someone’s property—say, you fell on something or a substance that was negligently left on their floor. You are taken to the hospital, injured. At the hospital, the doctors misdiagnose you, amounting to medical malpractice. Because of the malpractice, your injury is much worse—what could have been easily cured, is now a lifelong disability, because of the malpractice.
Who is at fault? Who do you sue?
Perhaps the store—after all, if they weren’t negligent, causing you to fall, none of this would have ever happened; the fall in the store was the catalyst that set in motion this chain of events. If there is nothing on the store’s floor, there never is any medical malpractice.
On the other hand, the injury from the store was recoverable—the reason why you are now permanently disabled, is because of the malpractice.
This all sounds kind of silly, but scenarios like this do happen: two events of negligence happened very close in time, causing you an injury. Who is liable—the first or the second negligent actor?
Superseding and Intervening Causes
The answer lies in what are known as superseding and intervening causes, and how foreseeable the second injury or act of negligence was.
Intervening causes are those things that happen after an initial accident which can be foreseen—that is, which can naturally be expected to happen. In these instances, the initial negligent actor remains liable.
Imagine, for example, you are a pedestrian hit by a vehicle. The initial car strike causes you to roll into the roadway, where another car hits you. It is entirely foreseeable that if a car hits a pedestrian, he or she could go into the roadway and into oncoming traffic, thus meaning that the initial negligent driver remains liable to you.
Superseding causes are the opposite. This is when something happens after an initial accident, that cannot be foreseen. In these cases, the second negligent actor, not the first, would be liable.
Imagine again you are a pedestrian hit by a car. After you are hit, you roll over exposed electrical wires left on the ground by the power company, and you are electrocuted.
The power company’s negligence is completely unforeseen, and is not something you might expect to happen when you are hit by a car. In that instance, the power company’s negligence may be considered superseding, thus absolving the initial driver that hit you, from being liable for your injuries.
Defendants Blame Each Other
If you cannot parse out which negligent defendant (that is, which accident) caused which injury, and there are two accidents close in proximity, you can bet that both negligent actors will try to blame the other. The key for a victim is understanding who is liable for your injuries, when there are multiple negligent parties.
We can help you determine who may be liable for your injuries. Contact our Rhode Island injury lawyers at Robert E. Craven & Associates at 401-453-2700 for help.
Sources:
nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-are-intervening-and-superseding-causes-in-a-personal-injury-case.html#:~:text=A%20superseding%20cause%20is%20a,responsibility%20for%20a%20plaintiff’s%20injury.
forbes.com/advisor/legal/personal-injury/superseding-cause/
