What Is Proximate Cause in a Personal Injury Case?

A personal injury case can involve complex issues, which is one reason why it’s advisable to choose a highly experienced personal injury lawyer with offices in Tracy or Livermore. Your personal injury lawyer must not only prove the actual cause of your injuries, but also the proximate cause or legal cause. Proximate cause is a key concept in holding a defendant liable for negligence . To better understand proximate cause, it may be easier for your personal injury lawyer to explain what proximate cause does not entail.

For example, if you drive through an intersection and a car nearly hits you, you may be understandably upset. As you continue driving, your distressed emotional state may prompt you to hit a parked car and sustain injuries. In this instance, the negligent driver may have remotely influenced your accident, but his or her actions do not constitute a proximate cause. To prove that proximate cause does exist, your injury lawyer would have to demonstrate that the defendant could reasonably foresee that acting in a negligent manner could have caused your injuries.