Opinion ID: 1987358
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: only substantial factor.

Text: The violation of a statute does not necessarily create liability. The statute must have been specifically intended to prevent the type of occurrence that took place, and the violation must have been a substantial factor in causing the result. Isaacs v. Smith, 5 S.W.3d 500, 502 (Ky. 1999). Baize claims the accident occurred because of Hargis's own negligence in permitting his truck to be overloaded so as to increase the amount of board-feet hauled and, thus, his remuneration for the trip; and that such was the only substantial factor in causing his injuries. [2] But even if Hargis's truck were overloaded, a jury could conclude that Baize's compliance with the applicable KOSHA regulations would have prevented Hargis's death and, conversely, that his failure, nay refusal, to comply with those regulations was a substantial factor in causing that death. [I]n many negligence per se cases, the statute or ordinance violated was intended to protect individuals from their own carelessness in certain dangerous situations. William S. Cooper, Comment, Negligence Per Se as Proximate Cause of Injury in Fall-Down Cases, 57 Ky. L.J. 277, 280 (1968-69). The issue of comparative fault in this case is one to be decided by a properly instructed jury.