Which set of elements is required to establish negligence?

• A. Offer, acceptance, consideration, and legality
• B. Duty of care, breach, causation, and damages
• C. Duty to warn, breach of predictability
• D. Evidence, testimony, cross-examination

Answer: (B)

Negligence is established by proving four elements: a duty of care, a breach of that duty, causation, and damages. It starts with the idea that people owe others in their circumstances a standard of reasonable care to avoid foreseeable harm. For example, a driver on the road owes other road users a duty to drive safely, and a professional owes the standard of care expected in their field.

Breach means the defendant failed to meet that standard—acting or failing to act in a way that falls short of what a reasonably careful person would do in similar circumstances. This isn’t just about bad thoughts; it’s about conduct that falls below the expected standard.

Causation connects the breach to the injury. There are two parts: actual causation (but-for the breach, the harm would not have occurred) and proximate causation (the harm was a foreseeable consequence of the breach). If the breach didn’t cause the injury, or if the link is too remote, negligence isn’t established.

Damages require that the plaintiff suffered actual harm—such as medical bills, lost wages, or other losses—that can be compensated.

That four-element framework is why this option is the correct one. The others refer to different concepts: the first set mirrors contract formation (offer, acceptance, consideration, legality) rather than negligence. The third set mentions a duty to warn and foreseeability in a partial way but doesn’t capture the full four-element test. The fourth set lists tools used in court (evidence, testimony, cross-examination) rather than the elements needed to prove negligence.