Solution to Business Law Examples

This document provides solutions to various examples in business law, including issues related to liability, duty of care, and negligence.

Running head: BUSINESS LAW
Business Law
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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BUSINESS LAW
Solution to example 1
Issue
To determine whether the delivery driver would be held liable for hitting the
pedestrian who was crossing the road when the green signal was on and the driver was
passing by.
Law
In the landmark case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, the essentials of
establishing the tort of negligence against a person or any organisation was laid down by the
court where it was stated that a) a person has a duty of care, b) the person has failed to carry
out his duty of care, c) such breach of duty must have caused certain injury or loss to
another, d) the action that caused the breach was foreseeable. A person who has a duty of
care towards another must adhere to it and any action that violates such duty of care results to
breach. If such breach causes some injury to another person, the tortfeasor shall be held
responsible for it and shall be made to pay damages.
The onus will be on the claimant to prove that the defendant had a duty to show a
certain standard of reasonable care towards him and that he has breached his duty of care. It
also needs to be established that such breach have caused certain injury or loss to the claimant
as otherwise the defendant could not be made to pay damages for such injury or loss.
However, certain defences are offered to the defendant in case he was not responsible for the
injury or loss, or that the incident of breach was beyond his capacity to restrain (Tilley,
2016).
Application

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BUSINESS LAW
In this case, the delivery driver was passing by a road which had its green signal light
on and at the same time a pedestrian was crossing the road. The pedestrian got hit even
though the delivery driver had pushed the brake all of a sudden seeing the pedestrian crossing
the road, but the pedestrian still got hit. Even though the driver had a duty towards his fellow
vehicle drivers and pedestrians who was around at that point of time, yet it was unpredictable
and unforeseeable that a pedestrian would cross the road while the green light was on. In this
situation, it cannot be established that the delivery driver had a duty of care towards the
pedestrian and therefore there is np breach of duty of care as well. The incident was
unforeseeable and therefore cannot be enforced.
Conclusion
Therefore, delivery driver would not be held liable for hitting the pedestrian who was
crossing the road when the green signal was on. The pedestrian is to be considered guilty of
irresponsible behaviour for crossing the road while the green light was on.
Solution to example 2
Issue
To determine whether the delivery driver shall be held liable for hitting the vehicle
ahead of him.
Law
A person having certain duty of care or reasonable standard of care towards another
must adhere to it and should not avoid at any circumstances, especially not on the ground of
losing temper or being agitated. The position of a person or the particular circumstance
makes the person liable to bear a certain duty of care towards another and unable to perform
it would result in the breach of such duty. It should be established by the claimant that the

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injury sustained by him was particularly due to the breach of the duty of care by the
defendant as it is important in order to incur compensation or damages from the defendant for
such injury or loss. The claimant also needs to establish that the breach was foreseeable and
was possible to avoid by the defendant (Robertson, 2013).
The defendant shall be offered certain defences which he could cite in case he was not
responsible for the injury or loss, or that the incident of breach was beyond his capacity to
restrain. In case he fails to prove his defence, he shall be held liable to pay damages to the
claimant (Fulbrook, 2017).
Application
In this case, the delivery driver had a duty of care towards the vehicle ahead of him; to
maintain a safe driving standard so that there was no accident or collision with the vehicle.
The delivery driver breached his duty to drive safe when he hit the vehicle ahead of him out
of agitation as the vehicle was not moving even when the green light was on. He cannot put
forward his temper or agitation as a defence in this situation and shall be held responsible for
the injury sustained by the claimant. The delivery driver was supposed to act responsibly
towards his fellow drivers on the road while driving, without letting his ego or temper coming
on the way of the safety of others on the road. It is evident that he had breach his duty of care
and was to be held liable for the injury sustained by the vehicle driver. Here, the delivery
cannot cite any kind of defence pertaining to his action even though the vehicle ahead of him
was not moving when the green signal was on.
Conclusion
Therefore, the delivery driver shall be held liable for hitting the vehicle ahead of him
and shall be made to pay damages to the vehicle driver for the injuries that he sustained in
that accident.

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Solution to example 3
Issue
To determine whether the delivery driver would be held liable for the destruction of
the property and injury of the employees of the corner store as his truck slide off due to the
snow storm.
Law
A person having certain duty of care or reasonable standard of care towards another
must adhere to it. The case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 laid down the essentials
to establish the tort of negligence against a person, where it was stated that a) a person has a
duty of care, b) the person has failed to carry out his duty of care, c) such breach of duty
must have caused certain injury or loss to another, d) the action that caused the breach was
foreseeable. Therefore, the claimant needs to establish all four essentials in order to establish
that the defendant was negligent towards him. Along with the factors of presence of duty of
care, breach of such duty and the injury sustained, the claimant must also establish that the
breach was foreseeable and could have been avoided or restricted from occurring (Goldberg,
Sebok, & Zipursky, 2016).
However, certain defences are offered to the defendant in case he was not responsible
for the injury or loss, or that the incident of breach was beyond his capacity to restrict.
Defences like act of God, contributory negligence and voluntary assumption of risk is offered
to the defendant in cases where he could establish that the breach was beyond his capacity to
resist.
Application

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In this case, the delivery driver was a victim himself in the sudden severe snow storm
which made his truck slide off and crash into the corner store. Here, even though the delivery
driver had a duty of care to drive safely so that no one was hurt, however, the snow storm
was such severe that it went beyond his control to restrict his truck to crash into the corner
store. Therefore, he cannot be considered to have breached his duty of care, as the entire
incident was under the control of the harsh natural calamity. He cannot be held responsible
for the injury sustained by the employees and the destruction suffered by the store.
Conclusion
Therefore, delivery driver would not be held liable for the destruction of the property
and injury of the employees of the corner store as his truck slide off due to the snow storm
which is a natural calamity and was beyond his capacity to control.

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References
Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562
Fulbrook, J. (2017). Outdoor activities, negligence and the law. Routledge.
Goldberg, J. C., Sebok, A. J., & Zipursky, B. C. (2016). Tort Law: Responsibilities and
Redress. Aspen Publishers.
Robertson, A. (2013). Policy-based reasoning in duty of care cases. Legal Studies, 33(1),
119-140.
Tilley, C. C. (2016). Tort Law inside out. Yale LJ, 126, 1320.