proximate cause
Noun
Meaning
proximate cause (plural proximate causes)
(law) An event which, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces an injury, and without which the injury would not have occurred.
Examples
But proximate cause is still met if a thrown baseball misses the target and knocks a heavy object off a shelf behind them, which causes a blunt-force injury.
Compared to many other factors that contribute to an endangered species, nutritional stress is the most proximate cause to population decline.
But under proximate cause, the property owners adjacent to the river could sue (Kinsman I), but not the owners of the boats or cargoes which could not move until the river was reopened (Kinsman II).
Efficient proximate cause A related doctrine is the insurance law doctrine of efficient proximate cause.
Foreseeability The most common test of proximate cause under the American legal system is foreseeability.
More often, it is said to have four (duty, breach, causation and punitive damages) or five (duty, breach, actual cause, proximate cause, and damages).