Strict Liability Flashcards
(7 cards)
Strict Liability
A prima facie case for strict liability requires (1) an absolute duty to make the plaintiff’s person or property safe, (2) actual and proximate causation, and (3) damages.
Abnormally Dangerous Activities
A defendant engaged in an abnormally dangerous activity may be held strictly liable—without any proof of negligence—for personal injuries and property damage caused by the activity, regardless of precautions taken to prevent the harm
Definition of Abnormally Dangerous
Abnormally dangerous means that an activity:
i) Creates a foreseeable and highly significant risk of physical harm even when reasonable care is exercised; and
ii) Is not commonly engaged in.
Dangerous Propensity
The owner or possessor of a wild animal is strictly liable for harm caused by the animal, despite any precautions the possessor has taken to confine the animal or prevent the harm, if the harm arises from a dangerous propensity that is characteristic of such a wild animal or of which the owner has reason to know.
Abnormally Dangerous Animals
The owner or possessor of an animal is strictly liable for injuries caused by that animal if:
i) The owner or possessor knows or has reason to know that the animal has dangerous propensities abnormal for the animal’s category or species; and
ii) The harm results from those dangerous propensities.
Otherwise, under common law, the owner of a domestic animal is generally liable only for negligence.[
Trespassing Animals
The owner or possessor of any animal, wild or domestic (other than household pets), is strictly liable for any reasonably foreseeable damage caused by the animal while the animal is trespassing on the land of another.
Assumption of the Risk
The plaintiff’s assumption of the risk bars his recovery in a strict-liability action. This defense is also referred to as “knowing contributory negligence.”
