Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Business Law Practice Exam

Which tort occurs when one person carelessly injures another?

1. Negligence

2. Assault

3. Battery

4. Defamation

The correct answer is: Negligence

Negligence is the tort that occurs when one person carelessly injures another. This legal concept is rooted in the failure to exercise a level of care that a reasonable person would in similar circumstances. Negligence involves a breach of duty owed to someone, which leads to damages or injury. In order to establish negligence, several elements must be proven: there must be a duty of care owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, causation linking the breach to the injury, and resulting damages. The idea is that individuals or entities are expected to act reasonably to avoid harming others; failing to do so can lead to liability for negligence. Assault, on the other hand, generally refers to the intentional act of creating a reasonable apprehension of harmful or offensive contact, which does not require the same level of care and does not necessarily involve physical injury. Battery involves actual physical contact and is also an intentional tort, unlike negligence, which is unintentional. Defamation pertains to making false statements that harm someone's reputation, which is unrelated to physical injury or carelessness in actions leading to personal harm. Each of these other torts focuses on different principles of law, distinct from the concept of negligence.