What is negligence per se?
A statute or regulation may define the applicable standard of care in a specific situation, and a violation of that statute may constitute negligence per se. The statutory standard of care replaces the reasonable person standard in the concept of ordinary negligence. The following elements must be met in order for a statutory duty of care to apply: the statute or regulation must clearly define the required standard of conduct; the statute or regulation must have been intended to prevent the kind of harm the defendant’s act caused; the plaintiff must be in the class of persons the statute or regulation was designed to protect; and the violation must have been the proximate cause of the injury.
