Question

A person driving over the prescribed speed limit in a suburban area hits and injures a pedestrian jaywalking against a red "Do Not Walk" sign. The jury finds that the driver was 80 percent responsible for the accident and the jaywalker was 20 percent responsible. The pedestrian suffered $100,000 in injuries. If the state in which this case is heard adopts the doctrine of contributory negligence to interpret such cases, the pedestrian is entitled to recover ________.

Answer 1

Answer: A) no damages from the driver

Explanation:

CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE is a defence where a person is ruled to have contributed to whatever injury there may have sustained in the matter at hand, through their own negligence.

When this happens, the plaintiff is COMPLETELY BARRED from receiving any form of compensation from the Defense.

This is a particularly harsh doctrine that has been abolished in many Common Law countries who instead now follow the COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE approach where the Plaintiff's claim is reduced by the percentage they contributed to the accident. In this case their claim would be reduced by 20% leading to $80,000 being paid by the Defendant.