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a reasonable myth
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We’ve all heard of the reasonable mistake, (like shouting hello to a stranger who looks just like an old friend) or the reasonable accident (like two people coming around a corner at the same time and running smack into each other). The law makes allowances for reasonable “oops” as well.
These are the kinds of situation which are commonly summed up in the bumper sticker “Sh** Happens.” We have all been reasonably cautious and still bad stuff happens.
One of the unspoken requirements of day to day life is that you act reasonably and if you don’t, you’re likely to feel either the wrath of the law or the wrath of a nasty law suit--not to mention really nasty blog entries.
But determining what is reasonable and what isn’t is a slippery thing and relies heavily on the circumstances. It is perfectly reasonable to walk across the street in a small country town that sees four or five cars a day. But it is not so reasonable to walk across an eight lane interstate highway at rush hour. In the first situation, the same action (walking across the street) would be met with little if any response. It would probably induce a yawn and a “So?” But the same action in the second scenario would elicit the most colorful comments from the passing motorists along with a pile up, fender benders or even serious injury.
So reasonable behavior is often not the behavior itself but the when, where, and how of the behavior. And, when it comes to negligence, everybody is held to the reasonable person standard.
Who is this mythical reasonable person?
It is YOU.
It is the ordinary everyday guy with common sense but also with the weaknesses and faults that we all have. The mythical reasonable person is much more like a Clark Kent than a Superman. The test is not “What would Jesus do?” Rather, it’s “what would we all do?”
