If you feel that you deserve to be compensated for an injury or loss you have incurred due to he negligence of another, you should know that negligence is not as easy to establish as it may seem. A better understanding of what constitutes negligence in an Oklahoma personal injury case, will help you gather the information necessary to prove your case.
When you are injured due to the negligence of another, you may have a legal right to be compensated for your loss. The law of negligence states that a party has a duty to behave with a reasonable amount of care. If that party does not behave with a reasonable amount of care for others and as a result someone is injured, the party in question must compensate the injured person or persons for their losses.
However in order to establish negligence and be entitled to compensation, you must show that the following 4 elements existed in your personal injury case:
1. That the plaintiff owed a reasonable duty of care to you
– Drivers have duty to drive in a reasonably careful manner.
– Businesses have a duty keep their premises reasonably safe for customers to visit.
– Manufactures have a duty to make their products safe for use.
– Physicians have a duty to treat you with a reasonable standard of care to their patients.
2. That the plaintiff breached his duty to you
– If a driver is driving too fast for road conditions, they are in breach of their duty to drive carefully
– If a customer visits an establishment and slips upon a wet floor, the establishment may be in breach of its duty to make their place of business safe for visitors.
– If a product is faulty and dangerous for consumers to use, a manufacturer may be in breach of its duty to make products safe.
– If a doctor misdiagnosis a patient and prescribes he wrong medicine, he or she may be in breach of their duty to treat you with a reasonable standard of care to their patients.
3. That the plaintiff’s breach of duty caused your injury
– When a driver drives too fast and causes an accident, his or her speeding may be the cause of your injuries.
– If you visit a grocery store and slip and fall on a spill, the proprietor’s failure to keep the floor in safe condition for customers maybe the cause of your injuries.
– When a faulty product injures a consumer, the manufacturer’s breach of its duty to make the products safe for consumers is the cause of your injuries.
– When your medical condition worsens because the doctor misdiagnosed your problem or prescribes the wrong medicine, your injury is caused by he or she failing to treat you with a reasonable standard of care.
4. That your injury resulted in a loss, emotional, physical or otherwise.
– Injuries sustained in a car accident may leave you with expensive medical bill, a loss of work, a loss of property and emotional distress.
– Injuries sustained in a fall may result in long-term pain and discomfort and an overall loss in the quality of your life.
– Injuries sustained while using a faulty product may result in the loss of life, limb or damage to property
– A misdiagnosis by your doctor may result in the need for more treatment and higher medical bills.
All of the elements above must exist for you to prove that the plaintiff was negligent and liable to you for the losses that you have incurred. So, the goal is to prove the existence of all of these elements and show how they pertain to your particular personal injury case. This is done by gathering as much information as possible in support of your claim and then applying it to the circumstances of your case in a manner that will show how the plaintiff’s negligence eventually led to your losses. If his can be done successfully, there is higher likelihood that you will be compensated for your damages.
Initial Consultation: Tulsa, Oklahoma Injury Lawyer
With this knowledge of what constitutes negligence in an Oklahoma personal injury case, if you have been injured or experienced a loss and believe that it is due to the negligence of another, immediately contact a Tulsa personal injury attorney at (918) 924-5528 to help you determine whether or not you have a personal injury case in Oklahoma.
