In its most simple definition, negligence means that someone was careless and as a result of being careless, someone else was injured. Negligence serves as the basis for a personal injury lawsuit.  Negligence is any conduct that falls below the recognized standards of behavior established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risks of harm. A person has acted negligently if he or she has departed from the conduct expected of a reasonably prudent person acting under the same or similar circumstances.

To establish negligence, a plaintiff (the person injured) must be able to prove or demonstrate in court that the defendant (the person being sued):

• owed a duty to the plaintiff,
• the defendant breached that duty by failing to conform to the required standard of conduct,
• the defendant’s negligent conduct was the cause of the harm to the plaintiff, and
• the plaintiff was, in fact, harmed or injured. 

For example:

The driver of a tractor trailer truck hauling a large piece of machinery owes a duty to other drivers on the freeway to be careful.  If the truck driver failed to strap down the machinery and it fell off the truck, landing on a passing car and injuring the driver of the car, a personal injury claim could be made based upon the negligence of the truck driver.