Negligence State Laws Negligence is an actionable tort. This
means that if one person’s carelessness causes another personal
injury, the injured party may sue to recover damages (money) for
his or her injuries. The idea that a person can sue for
negligence is a relatively new phenomenon, only about a century
old. The reason for negligence’s late recognition is because
common law traditionally recognized only intentional torts; that
is, it held parties responsible for injuries that were the
result of intentional acts. It was irrelevant that the actor did
not intend to injure anyone, much less the injured party, but it
only needed to be shown that the actor intended the action that
caused the injury. In these cases, evidence of who caused what
injury was affirmative, direct, and fairly objective. The
concept of permitting someone to recover damages for injuries
caused by someone’s lack of action or failure to do something
was a revolutionary concept. Since its recognition as an action
in tort, negligence has be