Legal Dictionary
Comparative Negligence
Comparative negligence: reduces the amount of damages a plaintiff can recover based upon the plaintiff’s own negligent contribution to the injury.
- Pure comparative negligence:
Plaintiffs can recover some percentage from a defendant who is liable regardless of the extent of their own negligence. - Modified comparative negligence:
Plaintiffs are allowed a partial recovery just like pure comparative negligence, until the plaintiff is greater than 50% at fault. If the plaintiff is greater than 50% at fault, in many tort cases they will be barred from recovery. (Some state laws set this number lower.)
Example 1: Plaintiff and defendant both speeding when the two collide. A court finds plaintiff 10% at fault and defendant 90% at fault. Plaintiff has $10,000 in damages. Under pure comparative negligence, plaintiff can recover $9,000. [$10,000 damages x 10% amount of plaintiff’s fault = $1,000 reduction].
Example 2: Plaintiff and defendant both speeding when the two collide. A court finds plaintiff 90% at fault and defendant 10% at fault. Plaintiff has $10,000 in damages. Under modified comparative negligence, plaintiff is barred from recovery because they were greater than 50% at fault.
See also: contributory negligence.
