The “reasonable person” is a legal concept used in criminal and tort law to determine liability issues. It refers to an average person’s conduct under the same circumstances, but different standards apply based on individual characteristics. Mental capacity is not a factor, but external factors and resources are considered. Children have different standards based on age, intelligence, and experience.
“Reasonable person” is a legal term used in both criminal and tort law. It refers to a notional person in society who shows average judgment, skill or care in his conduct. Civil or criminal cases involving negligence use the reasonable person standard as a basis of comparison for deciding liability issues. In the judicial system, the reasonable person theory is applied to the following question: under the same circumstances, how would an average person have behaved?
This theoretical person, neither too cautious nor too fearless, provides an impartial standard against which the conduct of others is judged. The reasonable person standard, however, cannot be applied uniformly to all people. There are different standards of conduct expected based on a variety of characteristics an individual might have.
In judging conduct, the Reasonable Persons Act takes into account perceptions, experience, and knowledge. For example, a person cannot deny knowledge of commonly known facts such as ice being slippery or alcohol impairing driving ability. The behavior of persons engaged in activities that require special skills, experience or training, such as doctors or airplane pilots, is measured against the standards of reasonably qualified members of the same group.
Individual physical characteristics are another factor taken into consideration. A person with a physical disability is not expected to meet a standard of conduct that is impossible for him. Mental capacity, however, is ignored as a standard. A person lacking emotional stability, judgment, or intelligence is not exempt from inability to act as a reasonable person. There is only one, single objective standard of reasonable behavior in the law, and it is not mitigated by considerations of either mental health or mental ability.
Some external factors, however, are relevant in determining reasonableness because they may influence how a person acts. For example, the urgent conditions of an emergency might cause reasonable people to make mistakes. Available resources are also taken into consideration. If the necessary resources are scarce, some actions that would otherwise be unreasonable may be reasonable.
Children are not held to the same standards as adults. Unlike adults, subjective factors such as age, intelligence and experience are taken into consideration. In general, children under the age of 7 are exempt from criminal or civil liability for negligence.
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