Butterfield v. Forrester
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''Butterfield v. Forrester'', 11 East. 60, 103 Eng. Rep. 926 (K.B. 1809), was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
case before the King's Bench that was the first appearance of
contributory negligence In some common law jurisdictions, contributory negligence is a defense to a tort claim based on negligence. If it is available, the defense completely bars plaintiffs from any recovery if they contribute to their own injury through their own negl ...
as a
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against
negligence Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...
.


Facts

Forrester (D) placed a pole against the road next to his house in the course of making repairs to the house. Butterfield (P) was riding at a high speed at approximately 8 pm at twilight and did not see the pole. He struck the pole and suffered personal injuries when he fell off his horse. A witness testified that visibility was 100 yards away at the time of the accident and Butterfield might have seen and avoided the pole had he not been riding at such a high speed. There was no evidence that Butterfield had been intoxicated at the time of the accident. At trial, the judge instructed the jury that if an individual riding with reasonable care could have avoided the pole, and if the jury found that Butterfield had not used reasonable care, the verdict should be in Forrester's favour. The jury returned a verdict for Forrester and Butterfield appealed.


Decision

The court determined that the plaintiff had failed to use common and ordinary caution, and he was therefore barred from recovery.Henderson, p. 359


Case law

*'' Davies v Mann'' *'' May v Burdett'' *'' Paris v Stepney BC'' *'' Winterbottom v Wright''


References

Negligence case law 1809 in case law English tort case law 1809 in British law Court of King's Bench (England) cases {{UK-law-stub