Exercise 4

because / as / since

Sarah can recover damages because/as/since/ Fred was coming after her

due to smth

to the fact that

из-за того, что

Due to the fact that Fred was coming after Sarah, she was emotionally distressed and so can sue Fred for that.

owing to

благодаря тому, что

Owing to the fact that Steve knows what battery is he can recover damages from Joe

as a consequence of (this)

вследствие; и как следствие этого

Fred continued to call Sarah, as a consequence of his obsession she felt emotionally distressed

A:

Look here. Let’s first make sure that we understand the term negligence properly.

B:

No objections. This is the definition: Negligence is a failure to behave with the standard level of care that a reasonable person would have exercised under the same circumstances.

A:

I can’t accept this. There must be a clarification. What does it mean “behave with the standard level of care”?

B:

As I see it, this means the following: you must meet the standard of behavior which will protect others against unreasonable risk.

A:

Right. But what will be an example?

B:

Sure. Laws and rules on the road and driving safety rules. Besides these rules to care about customers in shops, restaurants...

A:

I have no doubt that drivers, pilots, doctors and those who deal in service business have to exercise a duty of care. When they breach this duty, something bad can happen. But what about ordinary people’s behavior in their ordinary life?

B:

I don’t quite follow you here.

A:

I’ll explain what I’m driving at. Imagine you’re keen on … say, house plants growing. You have lots of flower pots and you place some of them, not very big ones, on your window sill. Do you have to foresee that a pot can fall out of the window onto the street and hit a passer-by? Do you owe a duty of care to this accidental passer-by?

B:

I surely do! And if I don’t, I will be liable for negligence. But it will happen in case the injured person brings a claim against me. By the way, what does our textbook say about the liability for negligence?

A:

There is an important part – the elements of negligence case. I quote: “A negligence case involves duty of care, breach of this duty and actual injury that occurred due to that breach”.

B:

Well, our accidental passer-by must prove that I owed a duty of care to those who may pass by my window, That I breached this duty by putting the flower pots on the window sill ….

A:

…. and that is why the pot that by chance fell on the head of the passer-by caused a serious injury to him. He even had to spend some time in the hospital because of your fallen pot.

B:

Oh dear, I must have foreseen all these troubles!

A:

Don’t forget that if the injured person provides evidence and proves the case he will be awarded sufficient compensation for his treatment and suffering.

B:

Great! Do you think we are ready for our seminar?