Tort Law: Negligence and Contributory Negligence

Running head: TORT LAW
Tort Law
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

TORT LAW1
Snushall v. Fulsang, 2005 CanLII 34561 (ON CA)
Area of Law
Tort law: Negligence- Contributory negligence
Contributory negligence can be regarded as the defence to the claim of tort on the basis
of negligence1. The principle is that the injured or the aggrieved party or the plaintiff
has contributed to his injury or loss as a result of being negligent of the known and
obvious reasons. When it is compared with the negligence of the defendant,
contributory negligence extent can defeat the claim to recover damages or can even
reduce the reward amount. In order to claim the defence of contributory negligence,
the defendant has to prove that the plaintiff or the claimant, as the case may be, has
committed negligence. The burden of proof lies on the plaintiff to disprove his
negligence. The defence of contributory negligence often succeeds when other
defences do not succeed.
The defendant must show that the claimant has failed to ensure taking proper care in
such situation for her own safety and such failure to take the required care has
contributed to the causation of the loss or damage suffered by the plaintiff or the
claimant.
Facts:
In the instant case2, Carol Snushall, the appellant as well as the plaintiff was inside a
1968 model vehicle as a passenger and such vehicle was driven by Daniel Fulsang, the
defendant and he rear ended the vehicle driven by Georg Vetzal, the appellant. Due to
this, Sunshall was injured. Though she was wearing the seat belt while driving but
1 Goudkamp, James, and Donal Nolan. Contributory Negligence in the Twenty-First Century. Oxford
University Press, 2019.
2 Snushall v. Fulsang, 2005 CanLII 34561 (ON CA).