Kentucky Negligence Laws

Accidents, and the unfortunate injuries that result, happen all the time. And if you get injured in an accident, how do you figure out who is at fault? Negligence claims are a legal way of determining who is at fault for injuries resulting from an accident. Here's an introduction to negligence laws in Kentucky.

General Negligence Law

The first steps of a negligence case are figuring out if one person owed a duty of care to another and whether he or she failed in fulfilling that duty. If that person breached a duty of care, he or she may be financially liable for any injuries that resulted. The final steps are demonstrating that the personâ€™s failure was the direct cause of the injuries, and determining the extent of the harm and the amount of damages.

Negligence Laws in Kentucky

State negligence laws can vary depending on the specifics of each jurisdictionâ€™s civil justice system. The table below highlights the specifics of Kentuckyâ€™s negligence statutes.

Code Section	None
Comparative Negligence	No; Kentucky Revised Statutes 189.125: Requirements of Seat Belts Failure to put child in safety restraint is statutorily not contributory negligence.
Contributory Negligence-Limit to Plaintiff's Recovery	Kentucky Revised Statutes 277.320: Contributory Negligence Employee not guilty of contributory negligence where violation by carrier of state/federal safety statute contributed to injury or death. In the case were no safety statute has been violated, contributory negligence is not a bar to recovery, but damages diminished in proportion to the amount of attributable negligence.
Contribution Among Tortfeasors	Yes; Kentucky Revised Statutes 412.030: Contribution Among Negligent Wrongdoers
Uniform Act	No

Negligence Cases

In order for any negligence claim to be successful, the plaintiff must several elements of a negligence case:

Duty: the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care;
Breach of Duty: the defendant failed to meet that duty;
Cause in Fact: but for the defendantâ€™s failure, the plaintiff would not have been injured;
Proximate Cause: the defendantâ€™s failure (and not something else) caused the plaintiffâ€™s injury; and
Damages: the plaintiff has actually been injured and suffered some loss.

Kentucky Negligence Laws: Related Resources

There are a lot of ins and outs to negligence law and underlying legal claims. You can visit FindLaw's Negligence section for additional articles and information on this topic.

Your Next Steps in Making a Negligence Claim in Kentucky: Speak with an Attorney

There are a lot of ins and outs to negligence law and legal claims for compensation. Some of these are not easy to know off the top of your head, such as when the deadline is to file a lawsuit, which can sometimes arrive faster than you think. That's why it's important to speak with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible if you've been injured by someone else's negligence. Contact an experienced personal injury attorney to find out how Kentucky negligence laws apply to your case and determine what options you have going forward.