Contributory Negligence is the legal concept preventing victims in an accident from receiving recovery for their personal injuries if their negligence contributed to the accident at all. Simply put, even if the negligence of the operator of another vehicle is largely responsible for the motor vehicle accident, if the victim was even slightly negligent, it is possible they will not be able to recover any compensation. In Maryland, contributory negligence is interpreted broadly, allowing minor negligence by the victim in personal injury cases to defeat even very strong plaintiff claims.