Reasonable Person Standard Flashcards, test questions and answers
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What is Reasonable Person Standard?
The reasonable person standard is a legal concept that is often used to determine an individual’s liability in court. It is based on the notion that an ordinarily prudent and rational person would act with a certain level of care in any given situation. This standard can be applied in various areas of law, including negligence, intentional torts, and criminal law.In negligence cases, the reasonable person standard helps to define what constitutes an acceptable level of care in a particular situation. The court may consider factors such as age, experience, intelligence level, and special circumstances when determining how a reasonable person would have acted in similar circumstances. For example, if two people are in a car accident due to one driver’s careless behavior, the court may consider whether or not the other driver behaved reasonably under the circumstances to determine their degree of fault for the accident.In intentional torts cases such as battery or assault, courts may look to the reasonable person standard to define what actions constitute illegal force against another individual. In these cases it could be determined that any action beyond what a reasonably prudent person would do could be considered excessive force and thereby considered tortious behavior.Finally, criminal law also makes use of the reasonable person standard when determining whether or not an individual has committed a crime (e.g., manslaughter). Here it is used to decide whether or not someone’s actions were so far outside of what most people deem acceptable behavior that they should face criminal charges for their conduct.