What Is the Common Carrier Doctrine in California?
Anyone who transports you owes you a duty of care, but some “carriers” may owe you an even higher duty. If you have been injured in an accident when you were paying someone else to transport you, the personal injury lawyers at Heiting & Irwin should be your choice to help.
Although you need to prove negligence in every personal injury case, it is different when there is a common carrier involved. Here, they owe you the “utmost” duty of care. You would benefit with a personal injury attorney to help you prove legal liability and fight for you to receive the full amount of damages you deserve. It would be rare indeed that the responsible party wants to pay you everything you are owed.
Call the experienced personal injury lawyers in Riverside at Heiting & Irwin to learn more about this. They will listen to you and learn about you and the facts of your case and advise you on the path forward.
What Is a Common Carrier?
When a transportation operator purports to carry the general public in exchange for a fee, they take on an enhanced duty of care that they owe. Ordinarily, one’s duty of care means that they must act reasonably under the circumstances. If they fail to uphold this duty, and you have suffered an injury, they will owe you the damages that you have suffered.
Common carriers in California may include the following:
- Railroads
- Subways and light rail
- Bus and truck
- Taxi
- Uber and Lyft
- Cruise ships and ferry boat services
- Air transportation
- Roller coasters and other amusement park rides
One becomes a common carrier when one willingly offers one’s services to transport the public in exchange for money. If someone is driving their friend as a favor, they only owe a regular duty of care. If they make a general offer to the entire public to act as a transportation provider for money, then one assumes the role of a common carrier. The key is that the carrier serves the public in exchange for compensation. Here, the carrier is taking on a responsibility that would be even greater than the ordinary car or truck driver on the highway because of the role that they play in the transportation process.
The Common Carrier Owes You a Higher Duty of Care
Instead of using a “reasonable man” duty of care, a common carrier owes the “utmost” duty of
care. There is a qualitative difference between these two standards. California case law describes exactly how stringent the standard of care is that applies to common carriers, and may include “…any, even the slightest, negligence and is required to do all that human care, vigilance, and foresight reasonably can do under all the circumstances.”
The fact that an accident happened is not in itself proof of negligence. You would still need to gather proof to show that the carrier did something wrong, and we may need to deal with any accusations that you may have been partially to blame for the accident. Common carriers do not act simply as insurers of their passenger’s safety.
Furthermore, we feel you would still need a personal injury lawyer to represent you in the legal process because proving fault is only part of your own burden in a case. You must still know how much your case is worth and fight to get every dollar you deserve in compensation. You must battle for damages and potentially even take your case to court.
Contact a Riverside Personal Injury Law Firm Today
Take the first step in your legal case by reaching out to the Riverside personal injury attorneys at Heiting & Irwin. You can schedule a free initial consultation with a Riverside personal injury attorney by calling us at (951) 682-6400, or contact us here.
