Legal Definitions - danger-invites-rescue doctrine

The danger-invites-rescue doctrine, also known as the rescue doctrine, is a legal principle that states if a person or entity negligently creates a dangerous situation that imperils another, they can be held responsible for injuries sustained by a third party who attempts to rescue the person in danger. This doctrine recognizes that it is a natural and foreseeable human response to come to the aid of someone in peril. Therefore, a rescuer's actions are not typically considered an unforeseeable intervention that breaks the chain of causation, allowing the original negligent party to be held liable for the rescuer's injuries.

• Example 1: Car Accident on a Highway

  A truck driver, distracted by their phone, negligently swerves across multiple lanes on a highway, causing a severe collision that traps a family inside their overturned car. The car begins to leak fuel, posing an immediate fire risk. A passing motorist, witnessing the crash and the imminent danger, stops to help and manages to pull the family to safety. However, during the rescue, the rescuer suffers a severe back injury from lifting debris and a burn from the leaking fuel.

  How it illustrates the doctrine: The truck driver's negligence created the dangerous situation (the crash and fire risk). The rescuer's injuries, sustained while attempting to save the trapped family, would likely fall under the danger-invites-rescue doctrine. The truck driver could be held liable for the rescuer's injuries because the act of rescue was a foreseeable and natural response to the peril caused by the driver's initial carelessness.

• Example 2: Unsafe Workplace Conditions

  At a factory, a supervisor negligently fails to ensure that a heavy piece of machinery is properly secured to its foundation. The machinery begins to wobble violently, threatening to collapse onto a worker operating nearby. A coworker, observing the imminent danger, rushes over and manages to push the worker out of the way just as the machine topples. In doing so, the rescuer's arm is crushed by a falling part of the machinery.

  How it illustrates the doctrine: The supervisor's negligence in maintaining unsafe workplace conditions created the danger. The coworker's brave act of pushing the other worker to safety, though voluntary, was a direct response to that danger. The danger-invites-rescue doctrine would allow the injured rescuer to seek compensation from the negligent supervisor or the company, as the rescue attempt was a foreseeable outcome of the initial safety lapse.

• Example 3: Negligent Property Maintenance

  A landlord of an apartment building negligently leaves a broken railing on a common stairwell unrepaired for weeks, despite multiple tenant complaints. One evening, a tenant leans on the railing, which gives way, causing them to fall and hang precariously over several floors. Another tenant, hearing the cries for help, rushes to the scene and, in an attempt to pull the falling tenant back to safety, slips on the wet stairs (also a result of the landlord's negligence in fixing a leaky roof) and breaks their leg.

  How it illustrates the doctrine: The landlord's negligence in failing to repair the railing and the leaky roof created the dangerous conditions. The second tenant's injury, sustained while attempting to rescue the falling tenant, would be covered by the danger-invites-rescue doctrine. The landlord could be held responsible for the rescuer's broken leg because the rescue attempt was a foreseeable consequence of the dangerous conditions the landlord negligently allowed to persist on the property.