Which element of negligence refers to the defendant's failure to exercise reasonable care?

Which element of negligence refers to the defendant's failure to exercise reasonable care?

• A. Duty
• B. Causation
• C. Damages
• D. Breach

Answer: (D)

Negligence has four elements: a duty to exercise reasonable care, a breach of that duty, actual causation linking the breach to the injury, and damages resulting from the injury. The term that describes the defendant’s failure to exercise reasonable care is the breach. This occurs when conduct falls short of the standard of care a reasonably prudent person would follow in similar circumstances. For example, a dispatcher who neglects to follow established safety procedures or provides information without due diligence is not meeting that standard, so it’s a breach. Once breach is established, you’d assess causation—whether that breach actually caused the damages—and then whether damages occurred at all. The other elements describe the obligation (duty), the causal connection (causation), and the harm suffered (damages), not the failure to meet the standard of care.

Negligence has four elements: a duty to exercise reasonable care, a breach of that duty, actual causation linking the breach to the injury, and damages resulting from the injury. The term that describes the defendant’s failure to exercise reasonable care is the breach. This occurs when conduct falls short of the standard of care a reasonably prudent person would follow in similar circumstances. For example, a dispatcher who neglects to follow established safety procedures or provides information without due diligence is not meeting that standard, so it’s a breach. Once breach is established, you’d assess causation—whether that breach actually caused the damages—and then whether damages occurred at all. The other elements describe the obligation (duty), the causal connection (causation), and the harm suffered (damages), not the failure to meet the standard of care.