Articulation of The Rule
Hand stated:
he owner's duty, as in other similar situations, to provide against resulting injuries is a function of three variables: (1) The probability that she will break away; (2) the gravity of the resulting injury, if she does; (3) the burden of adequate precautions.This relationship has been formalized by the law and economics school as such: an act is in breach of the duty of care if:
where B is the cost (burden) of taking precautions, and P is the probability of loss (L). L is the gravity of loss. The product of P x L must be a greater amount than B to create a duty of due care for the defendant.
Read more about this topic: Calculus Of Negligence
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