First Principles of Business Law

12. Negligence

12 (b) 1.2.  Establishing a duty of care: The forseeability of some kind of harm

A is working in his front garden, building a low wall down the side of his driveway. At mid-morning he becomes thirsty. He leaves his tools and a wheelbarrow half-full of bricks lying in the driveway while he goes into the house to get a drink of water. While he is inside, B, a 5-year-old boy who has wandered out of a neighbouring house, walks past A's open gate. B sees A's equipment and wanders in to explore. B tries to climb into the wheelbarrow but unbalances it. B's leg is broken when the wheelbarrow and bricks fall on top of him.

A denies liability for the harm suffered by B, saying the harm suffered by B was the result of an unusual combination of circumstances and not reasonably foreseeable. Which of the following statements is correct?

(a) A could not be liable in Negligence to B because it was not reasonably foreseeable that a small child would come into A's yard, try to climb into the wheelbarrow and end up with a broken leg.

(b) A could be liable in Negligence to B because it was reasonably foreseeable that a person entering A's garden where dangerous things had been left unattended might be hurt in some way.