Rhode Island's Personal Injury Law

Many personal injury lawsuits involve car accidents.

Personal injury laws help resolve disputes between an injured party and the party accused of being responsible for those injuries. Although personal injury cases can stem from intentional conduct, such as battery, it is more common for negligence to be the cause of the controversy.

Negligence

In Black's Law Dictionary, negligence is defined as "the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation."

Pure Comparative Negligence

Rhode Island follows a pure comparative negligence system. Under this system, a judge or jury assigns a percentage of fault to both the injured party and the party accused of causing the injuries. The defendant in such cases must pay damages in proportion to their percentage of fault even if the plaintiff is found to be 99 percent at fault.

Statute of Limitations

In general, the statute of limitations for Rhode Island personal injury claims is three years; however, special rules for the tolling of the statute of limitations apply for minors and the mentally disabled.

References

• "Black's Law Dictionary"; 3rd Pocket Edition; Brian A. Garner; 2006: Definition of Negligence
• Rhode Island Statutes Chapter 9 -1, Section 9 -1 -14: Rhode Island Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims
• "Prosser, Wade and Schwartz's Torts: Cases and Materials"; 11th Edition; Victor E. Schwartz, Kathryn Kelly, David F. Partlett; 2005: General Tort laws