Tort Terms

Brien Roche

Ordinary care or reasonable care is what is expected of most people in most cases. The failure to exercise ordinary care may be negligence.  This arises most often in the context of there being some duty owed, a breach of duty and resulting damage.  It is the failure to exercise ordinary care that is negligence.

Source of the Duty for Ordinary Care

In the discussion of ordinary care the most important concept is what is the source of that duty. In terms of a tort that source of duty cannot be a contract. If the source of the duty is a contract then what you have is a breach of contract claim.

A tort claim is different. Tort damages likewise are different than contract damages. The duty to exercise ordinary care may arise from the rules of the road. In a slip and fall case the source of duty may be the state code known as the Property Maintenance Code. That Code may set standards as to how property is to be maintained. In the case of a medical procedure the source of the duty may be publications put out by professional groups that tell surgeons how procedures are to be done. Likewise in regard to products there may be industry standards as to how products are to be made.

Breach of Ordinary Care

Proof of what is ordinary care is only part of the battle in a tort claim. In addition there must be proof that the party charged with the fault violated that standard of ordinary care.
For more info on these issues and other injury related concepts see the other pages on this sit. Also see the pages on Wikipedia.