Exercise 7
This exercise is about negligence.
A painter is carrying her painting to a gallery for appraisal. A driver jumps the curb in his car. The side view mirror rips the painting out of the artist’s hand and into mud, destroying it.
Can the artist recover from the driver?
- A. No, because there is no way of knowing what the painting was worth before it was destroyed.
- Sorry, but that's not the correct answer. Please select another.
- B. No, because the driver couldn’t have known that the painting had any value.
- Sorry, but that's not the correct answer. Please select another.
- C. Yes, because the driver’s carelessness caused the painter to lose the value of her painting.
- C is correct. The driver is liable to the painter for the loss of the painting because the driver’s negligent handling of the car caused the loss. The painter may have some difficulty proving how much the painting was worth and whether anyone would have bought it. Yet she is still entitled to prove how much she might have gotten for the painting if she had been able to have it appraised and offered for sale.