Legal Dictionary
Contributory Negligence
Contributory negligence: is only followed in a few states and is not the law in Kansas. In tort law, contributory negligence bars recovery for an injury where a plaintiff had any fault whatsoever in contributing towards the cause of the injury.
Example 1: A plaintiff and defendant crash into each other on the road. A court finds plaintiff 1% at fault and defendant 99% at fault. Plaintiff has $10,000 in damages. Under contributory negligence, even though plaintiff was only 1% at fault, they cannot recover for their injuries because they legally contributed to the cause of the accident.
See also: comparative negligence.
