LAW 122 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Seat Belt, Reasonable Person
Document Summary
The plaintiff"s damages will be reduced to reflect the plaintiff"s own contribution to his/her injury. The judge will apportion liability, i. e. , will decide what percentage of the loss should fall on the plaintiff. Plaintiff does not wear seat belt in a car and is subsequently in a serious accident caused by the defendant"s carelessness. The plaintiff"s injuries are much more serious than they would have been had she been wearing a seat belt. The judge apportions the liability as follows: plaintiff, 45% and defendant driver, Definition: plaintiff freely accepted both physical and legal risk of injury (gave up right to sue) Volenti is a complete defence: if the defendant can prove that the plaintiff freely accepted both the physical and legal risk of harm, then there is no liability. Because of the harsh result (i. e. , the plaintiff recovers nothing), the courts have adopted a narrow approach.
