Affirmative defenses for negligence

Question 1

Contributory negligence

Answer 1

-When a plaintiff fails to use ordinary care in avoiding an obstruction caused by a defendant, the plaintiff may not recover damages from the defendant. (origin of contrib neg case)
-if there is evidence that the plaintiff failed to act reasonably under the circumstances to avoid a collision, then the plaintiff may not recover damages. (not hitting the brakes? case)

Question 2

Pure Comparative fault

Answer 2

Each party involved in the accident is assigned a percentage of fault based on their contribution to the incident. This percentage is then used to determine the amount of damages each party is responsible for.

Recovery is still possible even if the injured party is mostly at fault

Question 3

Modified comparative fault (50% Jurisdictions)

Answer 3

In jurisdictions that follow the 50% rule, an injured party is barred from recovering damages if their own fault is equal to or greater than 50%. This means that if the injured party is found to be 50% or more at fault for the incident, they cannot recover any damages.

If the injured party’s fault is less than 50%, they can recover damages, but the amount of damages is reduced in proportion to their percentage of fault. For example, if the injured party is 30% at fault, their damages will be reduced by 30%

Question 4

Modified Comparative fault (51% Jurisdictions)

Answer 4

In jurisdictions that follow the 51% rule, an injured party cannot recover damages if their fault is 51% or more. However, if their fault is 50% or less, they may still recover damages, and the damages will be reduced based on their percentage of fault.

For instance, if the injured party is 40% at fault, they can still recover damages, but the damages will be diminished by 40%.