BBG E231 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Speeder, Parachuting, Comparative Negligence
Document Summary
Res ipsa loquitur (latin phrase): = it means the thing speaks for itself . When it"s so obvious that its negligent that u don"t need to go through the 4 elements of negligence. (ex) if a chandelier randomly falls on u while ur in a hotel, lying in bed, then this is res ispa loquitur. This event (regarding the hotel) could not have ordinarily occurred if not for negligence. But u must also show the defendant breached a certain duty. One way to analyze/determine whether or not the causation element existed is by using the but for rule: u show that the event would not have occurred but for the person"s negligent conduct. Not necessarily, because there are 2 factors that, each on their own, could have caused the harm. In this case u use the substantial factor test= used when 2 or more factors could have contributed to the harm.
