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<\/p>\nUnder Virginia law, to pursue a case for personal injury, you must prove the other party was at fault. Sometimes the word \u201cnegligence\u201d is used to describe fault. \u201cNegligence\u201d is a broad term, but basically, negligence occurs when someone has not been reasonably careful or mindful of safety under the circumstances.<\/p>\n
Fault and negligence are treated differently in different states, but Virginia is known as a \u201ccontributory negligence\u201d state. What this means is that in Virginia, if you as the injured party are <\/b>even the slightest bit at fault for the accident, you cannot successfully pursue a case.<\/p>\n
When it comes to children, what may or may not be \u201creasonable\u201d behavior under the circumstances can be very different. Therefore, there is a different standard for cases involving children.<\/p>\n
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Under Virginia law, minors are not held to the same \u201cstandard of care\u201d that an adult might be when considering whether the minor acted reasonably (or whether they were negligent) under the circumstances. Therefore, when considering whether a minor was at fault for an accident or injury, we consider whether the minor acted reasonably as compared to \u201ca reasonable person of like age, intelligence and experience under like circumstances.\u201d[1]\u00a0 <\/span>The law differentiates what is reasonable for a child based upon his or her relative age group.<\/p>\n Specifically, children under the age of seven are presumed to be incapable of negligence. [2] In addition, Virginia law provides that, for children between ages 7 and 14, children in this age range are presumed to be incapable of negligence, but under certain facts and circumstances, the child could be considered negligent if it can be proven that\u00a0 \u201cthe child had the ability to understand and appreciate the danger, and that the child\u2019s actions were similar to a reasonable person of like age, intelligence and experience under the circumstances.\u201d[3]<\/p>\n