Strict Liability
When a car accident or other personal injury incident takes place in North Carolina, the path to compensation for the victim usually requires proving negligence. Essentially, that means demonstrating that the at-fault party (defendant) did not act as a reasonable person would under similar facts and circumstances.
However, there are situations where the law can still hold a party responsible even if they weren’t negligent at the time of the accident. This concept is known as strict liability. Learning about when it applies and when it doesn’t can have a real impact on how your case plays out, so read on to learn the information you need to know.
What Is Strict Liability?
Strict liability holds a person or entity responsible for injuries they cause without requiring the plaintiff to prove negligence. It doesn’t matter whether the defendant took every precaution available; as long as their actions caused harm, they can be held liable simply because that harm occurred.
This is different from how most personal injury cases work. In a standard negligence case, you have to prove:
- The other party owed you a duty of care.
- They breached that duty through their actions/inactions.
- That breach directly caused your injuries.
- You suffered measurable damages as a result.
Strict liability removes the need to prove a breach of duty. Instead, the focus shifts to whether the defendant’s conduct caused your injuries, not whether they acted carelessly.
When Does Strict Liability Apply in North Carolina?
North Carolina only recognizes strict liability in a limited number of situations. The two most common are dangerous dog bite cases and abnormally dangerous activities.
Dangerous Dog Cases
Under North Carolina General Statute § 67-4.4, the owner of a dog classified as “dangerous” is strictly liable for any injuries or property damage that the dog causes. A dog may receive this designation if:
- It has previously attacked someone and caused injuries that required medical treatment.
- It has killed or seriously injured another domestic animal while off the owner’s property.
- It has been labeled potentially dangerous, and the owner failed to follow the applicable restrictions.
The owner cannot avoid liability by claiming they didn’t know the dog would bite. Once the dog qualifies as dangerous under the statute, the owner is responsible for any harm it causes thereafter.
North Carolina also recognizes a form of the “one-bite rule” for dogs that haven’t been formally classified as dangerous. Under that rule, an owner may be held liable only if they knew or should have known of the dog’s aggressive tendencies.
Abnormally Dangerous Activities
North Carolina courts have long held that certain activities are so inherently risky that strict liability is the appropriate standard. Blasting is the most common example. If a company conducting blasting operations injures someone nearby or damages their property, that company can be held strictly liable even if every safety measure was followed.
The idea is simple: some activities carry so much risk that no amount of caution can fully prevent harm. In these contexts, the law places responsibility on the party who chose to engage in the activity, rather than on the person who got hurt.
Where Strict Liability Does Not Apply in North Carolina
One area where North Carolina stands apart from most other states is product liability. In the majority of jurisdictions, a manufacturer can be held strictly liable for injuries caused by a defective product. North Carolina does not follow that approach.
Under N.C.G.S. § 99B-1.1, strict liability is explicitly prohibited in product liability cases. That means you can’t simply prove that a product was defective and caused you injury. You have to go further and show that the manufacturer or seller was negligent. The state recognizes three types of product defect claims:
- Manufacturing defects, where an error during production made the product more dangerous than it was supposed to be
- Design defects, where the product’s design itself created an unreasonable risk of harm
- Failure to warn, where the manufacturer didn’t provide adequate instructions or warnings about known dangers
Product liability cases in North Carolina can be more difficult to win than they would be in other states, with this higher bar in mind, though certainly not impossible.
Contact a Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney at Chandler Volta Personal Injury Lawyers for Legal Help
Were you injured in an accident where strict liability might apply? Get in touch with an experienced Charlotte personal injury lawyer today at (704) 980-9999 at Chandler Volta Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation. You may be entitled to substantial compensation under at least one viable cause of action.