Personal injury laws are defined at state level. A panel of judges and the members of legislatures sit together to create, modify and amend the laws. Personal injury law of one state may not be the verbatim copy of that of another state; personal injury laws of California may not be same as that of Florida.
However, state laws share a lot of similarities as well. While defining personal injury laws, generally three torts are taken under consideration – international torts, negligence torts and strict liability torts.
Three Torts in Personal Injury Laws:
International torts deal with the cases in which the offenders are aware of the consequences of their actions while committing it. The action is intentional. Assault, household physical and mental abuses and workplace bully fall under international torts.
Negligence torts consume the lion portion of personal injury laws. Most personal injury lawsuits are based on negligence torts. The law makes it compulsory for all the citizens to act responsibly and reasonably that any other person would do if placed in similar situation. Simply put, everybody should behave rationally and sensibly so that others do not get affected for their behavior.
For example, a reasonable person would always take steps to remove traces of oil, water or grease from the floor which accommodates a lot of people everyday. Now, if a restaurant owner fails to do so and anybody slips and falls on the floor, the owner is held responsible for negligent behavior under negligence torts.
Strict liability torts deal with a different type of behavior. Here, if the behavior of one person does any harm to another, the victim can sue the offender under strict liability torts. Because his actions injured someone else, the defendant is held guilty. Points like whether he was aware of the consequences or he was not able to conform with normal standards are not at all considered.
Personal injury laws for malpractice:
Apart from torts, personal injury laws in America protect the citizens against professional malpractice. Medical malpractice and professional malpractice laws have been introduced to stop unethical and wrongful actions of professionals including medical practitioners.
Personal injury laws also deal with product liabilities. This section entitles consumers sue the manufacturer of a defective product which caused damage and injury to the users. When a person buys a chair from a furniture store and falls from it while sitting because the legs of the chair were broken, the consumer can sue the furniture store or the manufacturer for compensation.
And there is a part of personal injury laws that deal with transportation laws. Automobile, rail road, maritime and aviation accidents cases use this part of state personal injury law.
How to make full use of personal injury laws:
To make full use of the personal injury laws, you need to understand the section that best suits your case. You have to decide whether negligent tort or the transportation law is the right ground for your compensation claim case.