Contributory Negligence

Contributory negligence occurs when a plaintiffs conduct falls below the ordinary standard of care and is the legal cause connected with the negligence of the defendant in bringing about the plaintiff's harm. The defense of contributory negligence used to prevent any recovery on the part of a plaintiff who contributed, even a small amount to the injury. Nonetheless, the doctrine has been abolished and the pure comparative negligence system is currently the law in California. However, the term of contributory negligence is still applicable when a plaintiffs actions contributed to the injury.

There are two general types of contributory negligence. First, there may be a voluntary exposure to the danger arising from the defendant's negligence. Second, conduct may fall below the standard of due care, which, with respect to an adult, is the conduct of a reasonable man under like circumstances. When contributory negligence is used as a defense, it only applies to the individual injured and not the contributory negligence of a third party.

The standard used in establishing a defendant's contributory negligence is the same determining regular negligence. Thus, there needs to be an establishment of ordinary care to prevent liability for contributory negligence. Here, contributory negligence applies when a plaintiff voluntarily exposes themselves to dangerous that a reasonable person in a similar situation would know is unreasonable.

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