What Is Contributory Negligence?

What Is Contributory Negligence and Why Do We Have It?

Contributory negligence is old law, a holdover from our years as a British colony. Contributory negligence states that if you contribute to your injuries in anyway, you are entitled to no compensation. North Carolina is one of only four states that still adheres to this old law. The other forty-six states have done away with contributory negligence – for good reasons.

Contributory negligence is unfair. You do not hear about contributory negligence because insurance companies routinely fight for its survival. The remaining forty-six states have some form of comparative negligence. In comparative negligence, the jury determines the amount of fault. For example, if a jury determines that you are entitled to $10,000 to compensate you for your injuries but also finds you 10 percent at fault, you would receive only $9,000. In North Carolina, in that same scenario, you would be entitled to nothing.

Contributory negligence remains the law in North Carolina because insurance companies and big businesses spend millions of dollars lobbying the legislature. There is no one to fight these special interests. No one sees the need to challenge the law until they are already subject to its harsh consequences. For example, you are stopped at a stoplight when someone rear-ends you, destroying your car and causing you damages. The insurance company’s lawyer tells the jury that you should have looked in your rearview mirror, seen that this car was coming, and pulled off to the side. You state that you didn’t have time for such a maneuver. Twelve jurors hear the story and determine it is possible you could have pulled off to the side and avoided this collision. Sure, the defendant is mostly at fault, in fact the defendant is 99.9 percent at fault, but the jury decides that it cannot say that you could not have done something, did not “in any way contribute” to what happened. Therefore you are entitled to no compensation. This result occurs more often than not in North Carolina.

Because North Carolina law favors the insurance companies and big businesses, do not give a statement or speak with anyone other than law enforcement officers and medical providers if you have been injured. You should contact a lawyer immediately. In many instances a lawyer will tell you how to handle your claim on your own.