09/11/22: Torts: Negligence
Standard of due care: In the case of Donghue v. Stevenson, the court observed,” You must take
reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee.”
Case law no.1: Fardon v. Harcourt Rivington 1932 defendant parked his car by the roadside leaving his
dog inside the car. Afterwards unfortunately, dog jumped about and broke the glass one of the windows
of the car and as a result the plaintiff, the passerby was injured. Afterwards, the plaintiff came before
the common law court for damages for negligent act. Decide.
Case law 2: Bolton v. Stone 1951, during a cricket match a batsman hits a ball which crossed a 17 feet
high protective fence and injured the respondent who was standing on a highway. About 100 yeards off
from the fence, there was evidence that during a period of 30 years the ball had been hit into the
highway only on 6th occasions. But no one had been injured. Decide.
The common law court observed on the facts of the case the risk of injury to a person on a highway
resulting from the hitting of the ball was so small that the probability of such injury would not be
anticipated by a reasonable man.