CACI No. 403. Standard of Care for Physically Disabled Person

Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2023 edition)

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403.Standard of Care for Physically Disabled Person
A person with a physical disability is required to use the amount of care
that a reasonably careful person who has the same physical disability
would use in the same situation.
New September 2003
Directions for Use
By “same” disability, this instruction is referring to the effect of the disability, not
the cause.
Sources and Authority
• Liability of Person of “Unsound Mind.” Civil Code section 41.
• Restatement Second of Torts, section 283C, provides: “If the actor is ill or
otherwise physically disabled, the standard of conduct to which he must conform
to avoid being negligent is that of a reasonable man under like disability.” (See
also Conjorsky v. Murray (1955) 135 Cal.App.2d 478, 482 [287 P.2d 505]; Jones
v. Bayley (1942) 49 Cal.App.2d 647, 654 [122 P.2d 293].)
• Persons with mental illnesses are not covered by the same standard as persons
with physical illnesses. (See Bashi v. Wodarz (1996) 45 Cal.App.4th 1314, 1323
[53 Cal.Rptr.2d 635].)
• Restatement Second of Torts, section 283B, provides: “Unless the actor is a
child, his insanity or other mental deficiency does not relieve the actor from
liability for conduct which does not conform to the standard of a reasonable man
under like circumstances.”
• As to contributory negligence, the courts agree with the Restatement’s position
that mental deficiency that falls short of insanity does not excuse conduct that is
otherwise contributory negligence. (Fox v. City and County of San Francisco
(1975) 47 Cal.App.3d 164, 169 [120 Cal.Rptr. 779]; Rest.2d Torts, § 464, com.
g.)
Secondary Sources
California Tort Guide (Cont.Ed.Bar 3d ed.) § 1.20
33 California Forms of Pleading and Practice, Ch. 380, Negligence (Matthew
Bender)
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