In this case, Manny cannot escape liability, even though there was an intervening cause. [16] In that case, one defendant had gone into a ditch, and another defendant pulled the car out, resulting in both vehicles facing … In this case, the intervening event was the real reason the injury was suffered. Sparks from the fire cause Petrol's truck to explode, sending the fire on the way to Rancher's barns and home, which burn down. Both the smoke alarm manufacturer and the building contractor filed motions to dismiss, claiming that there were many events that occurred between their supposed negligence and the incident that caused the children’s deaths and injuries. Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use, Supplemental Terms, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Example of an Intervening Superseding Cause. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. — Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. Meanwhile, the driver of a nearby car puts her vehicle in reverse and runs over the person who just got off the bus. In a civil lawsuit in which a defendant has done something negligent that caused the plaintiff’s damages, it is possible for the defendant to avoid liability. This might be done by proving there was some other event that happened after his act that led to the accident, or to the plaintiff’s damages, at least in substantial part. Quinn’s car ended up totaled, and he suffered a broken arm, two broken ribs, and a severe neck strain. At trial, Brenda claims she cannot be held solely responsible, as the tow truck hitting Quinn’s car caused a great deal of the damages, and his injuries. In March 2000, Teresa Butts was driving down a dark and rainy night, when she struck a homeless man crossing the street. The information provided on this site is not legal advice, does not constitute a lawyer referral service, and no attorney-client or confidential relationship is or will be formed by use of the site. Under longstanding premises liability standards, the homeowner is almost certainly negligent for leaving an open hole in the sidewalk. Quinn seeks payment for his totaled car, as well as for his medical bills, and pain and suffering, to the tune of more than $10,000. For example, assume that contractor A was responsible for fencing or marking a hole in the ground and negligently fails to … The bus passenger who got hit sues the bus company for failing to provide a safe place for passengers to disembark. The horse is severely injured. In these jurisdictions intervening cause describes any cause that comes between a defendant's conduct and the resulting injury, and an intervening cause that relieves a defendant of liability is called a superseding cause. An intervening cause is a separate act of yet another party, which interrupts the direct connection between the defendant’s negligent or reckless act, and the damages or injury suffered by the plaintiff. In this case, Henry is still the factual cause of Mary’s death, because he chased her into the shed where she was eventually killed. While the answer to this test establishes proximate cause, it does not necessarily establish who is liable for the plaintiff’s damages, as other factors could have come into play. Let’s say that a homeowner digs a hole into a sidewalk and negligently leaves it open without any warning to pedestrians. The family filed a civil lawsuit, naming a host of defendants, including the landlord, the manufacturer of the smoke alarms, the home builder, the electrician, and the city inspector. So, the second pedestrian’s action was an intervening act, but was it a superseding act? n. An intervening cause that substantially affects the ultimate outcome of the series of events and breaks the chain of causation between the direct cause and the effect. out of proximate causation: superseding and intervening causation, and the medical malpractice complications rule. An event that occurs after a party's improper or dangerous action and before the damage that could otherwise have been caused by the dangerous act, thereby breaking the chain of causation between the original act and the harm to the injured person. While Quinn’s damages and injuries could be foreseen as the result of Brenda running the stop sign, the impact of a tow truck that happened by could not. It is different, however, in that the subsequent event is something that could not be foreseen as a consequence. But in this situation, the actions of the car driver may be considered a superseding cause of the passenger's injuries, whether or not the bus company could also be considered negligent. the person being sued) and contributed to the injury of the plaintiff. Intervening Cause and Superseding Cause. Proximate cause produces a consequences that is foreseeable, or even expected. As an example of a superseding cause, consider this alternative sequence of events: Manny puts Ron’s horse into his damaged corral, then retires for the evening. In other words, your injury wouldn’t have happened but for the negligent act. In some jurisdictions, an intervening cause that removes liability is called a superseding cause. A fellow pedestrian negligently fails to leave enough room for the plaintiff to pass on the sidewalk, and the plaintiff falls into the hole. For example, assume that contractor A was responsible for fencing or marking a hole in the ground and negligently fails to do so while contractor B is working in the hole. Further, the court explained that, in order for an act to be considered a superseding cause, it must be the act of someone or something other than the original actor and the victim. the intervening cause was not foreseeable and that the results which it caused. There are three ways to categorize cause in any situation in which someone experiences a loss due to someone else’s actions. For instance, a house fire is a foreseeable consequence of allowing a young child to play with matches. superseding cause Interpretation Translation An act of a third person or other force which by its intervention prevents the actor from being liable for harm to another which his antecedent negligence is a substantial factor in bringing about. 3d 664] exposed him to the peril of Shelton's action, and thus, plaintiff contends, defendant's negligence was also a "cause" of the injury. Manny might attempt to escape liability – and the hefty price tag for the horse – by claiming that the storm was an intervening cause that resulted in the horse’s injuries. An intervening cause is any event that occurs after the defendant’s actions and caused harm to the plaintiff. A superseding cause is an unforeseeable intervening cause.By contrast, a foreseeable intervening cause typically does not break the chain of causality, meaning that the tortfeasor is still responsible for the victim's injury—unless the event leads to an unforeseeable result. (Get the basics on negligence in a personal injury case.). However, the outcome of Manny’s actions in putting the horse in the damaged pen could reasonably lead to the injuries. The high winds and abandoned refrigerator in this example are a superseding cause – something that simply could not have been foreseen, and which occurred after Manny put the horse into a damaged pen. An intervening cause is any event in an accident that occurred after the actions of the defendant (i.e. See People v.Acosta for a great example.. If you leave an open hole in a sidewalk, it's reasonable to foresee someone falling into it, especially if the sidewalk is crowded. In 2007, a power outage occurred in a Maryland neighborhood, leaving residents in the dark. Some jurisdictions use two terms to define the intervening cause doctrine: intervening cause and superseding cause. Mary escapes Henry and hides in an abandoned shed. Plaintiff's theory, of course, is that defendant's antecedent negligence caused plaintiff to be in the situation which [58 Cal. In order to determine whether someone’s actions were the proximate cause of another’s damages, the courts apply what is know as the “but for” test. A superseding cause is very similar to an intervening cause, in that it refers to a subsequent event that causes, or adds to the severity of, the damages. Learn why they are important and how to use them on an exam. An intervening cause, such as the failure of a home builder to include sufficient exits from a home, may rise to the level of a superseding cause if it is so extraordinary or unusual that its interference, or consequences thereof, could not have been foreseen or anticipated. She appealed the conviction on a number of grounds, one of which was failure of the judge to instruct the jury properly regarding superseding and intervening cause. An intervening cause is something that happens in between the defendant’s actions and the accident, and causes the injuries. For example: Manny agrees to keep Ron’s horse in his corral for a week while Ron moves. Butts claimed that the streetlight wasn’t working where the accident occurred, and that the man shouldn’t have been crossing the street wearing dark clothing, and not at a crosswalk. An intervening cause occurs when there is some interruption between the defendant’s conduct and the ultimate harm or result. For example, an adult leaves a loaded gun on a table, where there are children playing nearby. In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. In order for the intervening cause to be deemed superseding and relieve the tortfeasor of liability, both the act/event and the injury must be unforeseeable. If the intervening cause is foreseeable, however, the defendant will still be liable. The key difference between an intervening cause and a superseding cause is foreseeability. A superseding cause, also known as an “intervening cause,” may be proven to have substantially caused the accident. What sets an intervening cause apart from a superseding cause (discussed below) is that it is a foreseeable outcome of the person’s actions. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. While the circuit court granted the dismissals, the plaintiffs appealed. An intervening cause can be the action of another person (who is generally called a "third party"), and it can also be an act of nature, such as a branch falling from a tree or a weather-related event. An intervening act, which is a normal response created by negligence, is not a superseding, intervening cause so as to relieve the original wrongdoer of liability, provided the intervening act could have reasonably been foreseen and the conduct was a substantial factor in … And as part of establishing the negligence, the injured person must show that the at-fault party's action (or inaction) was a cause (sometimes called a "proximate" cause in legalese) of the resulting injuries. Manny agrees to keep Ron’s horse in his corral for a week while Ron moves. A superseding cause sufficient to become the proximate cause of the final result and relieve defendant of liability for his original negligence, arises only when an intervening force was unforeseeable and may be described, with the benefit of hindsight, as extraordinary. Part II will discuss cases in which courts have considered superseding cause as a defense against liability for failure to diagnose, setting forth the courts’ justifications for either permitting or rejecting the defense. App. In the building of the home, the builder did not finish the basement, and did not include additional exits, as it was never intended to serve as bedrooms. The answer is probably no because the intervening action was (or should have been) reasonably foreseeable to the homeowner. Superseding cause might be thought of as being a step above intervening cause. In this situation, a horse kept in a damaged corral is quite likely to escape, or to be injured. 1485-1405 Latin supersedēre (to sit above or upon). In these jurisdictions intervening cause describes any cause that comes between a defendant's conduct and the resulting injury, and an intervening cause that relieves a defendant of liability is called a superseding cause. Superseding. The companies claimed that all of these events amounted to superseding causes that should absolve them of liability. Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Intervening and superseding causes—which occur when the action of a third party, or even an act of nature, play a role in causing the plaintiff’s injury—disrupt this so-called "causal chain" and can diminish or even wipe out the defendant's liability, which means intervening and superseding causes can reduce or eliminate your ability to get fair compensation ("damages") for your injuries. There are two types of intervening causes: foreseeable and unforeseeable. To break this down, consider that very few occurrences happen in a vacuum. She claimed that his own actions amounted to contributory negligence, and should be considered a superseding cause, relieving her of liability for the man’s death. Learn more about proving fault in a personal injury case. Review the example with Henry and Mary in Section 4 “Example of Legal Causation”. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Proximate Cause, Superseding Cause, and Intervening Cause, Superseding Cause Example in Negligent Homicide, Example of Superseding Cause vs. Proximate Cause in House Fire. A superseding cause is an unforeseeable intervening cause. This is the biggest difference between an intervening cause and a superseding cause. ... For example, the culpability of the third person committing ... determining whether an intervening force is a superseding cause of harm to the. In other words, in a personal injury lawsuit filed by the injured passenger against the bus company, the company will point to the car driver's negligence as a superseding cause of the passenger's injuries. However, Wes is probably the intervening superseding cause of Mary’s death because he interrupted the chain of events started by Henry. Additionally, a superseding act must have occurred after the original actor’s negligent act was committed. An intervening act will be called a superseding cause (or act) that relieves the original defendant of liability when the intervening act was or should have been reasonably foreseeable to the original defendant. During the night a storm arises, and hurricane-force winds pick up an empty refrigerator in the neighbor’s yard, and hurls it at the horse, striking him, and forcing him into the damaged section of the fence. While the person who committed the act considered to be the proximate cause of a plaintiff’s damages is held liable, he may escape being held liable if he can show that some subsequent event – the intervening cause – was actually the cause of the damages or injury. plaintiff, thus absolving defendant from liability: ‘(a) the fact that its … Here’s an example of a situation where the defendant might successfully argue that an intervening cause was the real reason the plaintiff was injured: Mike is mopping the floors at the ABC Grocery Store. In order for the intervening cause to be deemed superseding and relieve the tortfeasor of liability, both the act/event and the injury must be unforeseeable. Understanding Independent Intervening Causes. In other words, a superseding cause is an intervening act that is legally sufficient to transfer blame for the harm in question from the defendant to a third party, or to a natural event. The term superseding cause refers to some event that occurs after the initial act that caused an accident, or some other injury. Ultimately the court ruled that reasonable minds could very surely come to different conclusions about that issue, and therefore it is a question of fact that should be determined by a jury. Let’s look at an example of this. For example, imagine that a city fails to fill in a pothole and a car’s tire is damaged after driving over it. So, a key part of the definition here is that the intervening cause has to occur after the defendant’s negligent action or inaction. Other jurisdictions do not use the term superseding cause. In contrast to an intervening cause, which does not relieve the original defendant of liability, a superseding cause usually does relieve the original defendant of liability. Let’s say a person is getting off a bus in a parking lot. The superseding intervening cause defense is one of the few defenses in Minnesota workers’ compensation law that can result in a complete bar to all benefits claimed that are attributable to the superseding event. Usually intervening causes are actions by a third party or natural occurrence that alter the circumstances of accident. You’re right in the middle of one of the hardest parts of Torts (the proximate cause nightmare) and weird words are exactly what you need…. The candle foreseeably started a fire, but when the smoke detectors – which were hard-wired into the home, and had no battery backup – failed to wake the children, and there were no exits from the basement other than the main staircase, two children died, and three others were severely injured in the fire. Quinn just has time to realize his arm hurts before a tow truck, happening on the scene, rams into Quinn’s car, pushing it into a ditch. 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