The duty of care is the criterion used to determine whether the actions of an at-fault party who caused an accident warrant legal action. It is usually defined as actions that an individual or party of reasonable knowledge, experience, and competence would have performed under the same circumstances. Based on the specifics of your case, you may be able to hold another party at fault for an accident if you can prove that he or she should have but did not perform actions that could have prevented an accident and that a failure to do so led to an accident that led to quantifiable damages on your part and is therefore tantamount to negligence.