An Ottawa Lawyer Explains: What is Negligence

If you are in an Ottawa car accident, or if you suffer a slip and fall, you don’t have to dig very deep before you hear the word “negligence”. Your personal injury lawyer may use the term. Many accident victims wonder what this term means.

Negligence is the failure to take reasonable care. Reasonable care is the degree of care that a reasonably careful person would use in similar circumstances.

You can do something negligently. Or, sometimes it is negligent NOT to do something.

What does it all mean? It means that someone did something wrong or did not do something they should have done.

For most personal injury cases, you will only be able to claim compensation if someone else was “at-fault” or negligent in causing the accident.

Note: If you were in a car accident, there are statutory accident benefits that are available even if you were the one at fault or if there was no-one at fault for the accident.

Want to learn more? Speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer at Auger Hollingsworth. We can review the facts of your case and let you know if you have a viable claim for damages.

About the Author: Brenda Hollingsworth

Brenda Hollingsworth co-founded Ottawa’s Auger Hollingsworth in 2005 with her husband Richard Auger. Together, their mission was to create a personal injury law firm for Eastern Ontario that is unrivalled in the province for customer service and legal expertise. Brenda was named an Ottawa Business Journal Forty Under 40 award recipient and took home the Women’s Business Network’s Businesswoman of the Year award in the Professional category. She was also recognized as one of Ottawa Life Magazine’s “Top 50 People in the Capital.” She is often quoted as an expert and has appeared in media outlets such as CTV, The Globe and Mail, National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Sun Media, CBC, Toronto Star, Montreal Gazette, CFRA and many legal publications.

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