Definition
The legal requirement that a defendant's negligent act was the direct cause of the plaintiff's injury, not just tangentially related through a chain of increasingly absurd circumstances.
Example Usage
Though the driver was negligent, the court ruled his actions weren't the proximate cause of the accident since the other driver was texting.
Origin
From Latin 'proximus,' meaning nearest or next
Fun Fact
The 'but-for' test (but for the negligence, would the injury have occurred) is one common method of determining proximate cause
Source: Tort law and negligence terminology
Related Terms
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See “Proximate Cause” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.
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