Negligence Hypotheticals- Business of Law

In the following situations, determine whether the actor, George, is negligent. If so, indicate that he is negligent. If not, indicate why he is not negligent; that is, indicate which element of negligence is missing. Explain your answers.

1. George goes to the golf course on Saturday morning, eager to try out a new set of golf clubs he has just purchased. After carefully inspecting the clubs, he tees off on the first hole and the head of his club flies off and hits Sam, a nearby golfer, right in the face. Sam sustains serious facial injuries.

2. George goes to the golf course on Sunday morning. While he is teeing off at the eleventh hole, his golf ball veers toward a roadway next to the golf course and shatters a cars windshield.

3. Driving down a one-way street in the right direction on Monday morning, at no more than the posted speed limit, George hits a teenager, who is injured. The boy had jumped in front of Georges car from behind a stone wall to impress friends by scaring George.

4. Driving on, at the next blind spot in the road, George honks his horn three times to warn any teenager who may be waiting to jump in front of his car. Two blocks away, an elderly woman believes the horn is an air raid siren and suffers a heart attack.