sharminlaw

Proximate Causation: The But For Test and Your Palm Beach County Accident Case

A Palm Beach County car accident victim must prove the following in a personal injury lawsuit: a duty owed to the injured, a breach of that duty, injuries as a result of that breach and damages (property or physical).  Injuries as a result of the breach is also known as proximate causation and it means that something happened which is directly linked to the car accident victim and the injuries associated with that car crash.  Florida court call this the "but for" test.  "But for" means that but for the other guy's driving skills, Lake Worth injury victim would not have been injured.  There must be a natural and foreseeable, direct and continuous sequence of factual events between the negligent act and the victim's injuries.

When more than one person's conduct led to the injury, the "but for" test is not applicable.  Instead the Florida courts use the "substantial factor" test.  For example, if Palm Beach County was negligent in maintaining a bicycle path that caused a thirteen year-old to veer from the path and into an adjoining street into an oncoming vehicle that struck and killed him, the "but for" test would not apply and the court would use the "substantial factor" test.    The substantial factor test means that a defendant's conduct in an action for personal injuries is considered a cause of the event if it was material anda substantial factor in bringing it about.