What is a Proximate Cause?
Proximate causation means that the harm suffered by the defendant was reasonably foreseeable as a result of the plaintiffs conduct.
When is Negligent Conduct the Proximate Cause of a Harm?
For the type of injury to be foreseeable, the plaintiff must be one whom the defendant could reasonably expect to be injured by a negligence act.
Further, the injury must be caused directly by the defendants negligence.
The relationship between the defendants actions and the harm caused cannot be too far removed or tenuous.
This may be the case when an unexpected intervening actor or occurrence is involved in bringing about the harm.
It would breach the chain of causation necessary for finding a defendant negligent.
This determination is left for the jury to decide.