What term describes the failure to use ordinary or reasonable care?

• A. Negligence
• B. Liability
• C. Sovereign Immunity
• D. Good Samaritan Law

Answer: (A)

Negligence is the failure to use ordinary or reasonable care, which can lead to harm. In athletic settings, it means not acting as a reasonably prudent person would—like neglecting to inspect equipment, ignoring safety protocols, or failing to supervise properly—and that failure results in an injury. For negligence to be established, there are usually four elements: a duty to act with reasonable care, a breach of that duty, causation linking the breach to the injury, and actual damages.

Liability refers to legal responsibility for damages and can stem from negligence, but it’s the conduct (the failure to act with reasonable care) that is described by negligence. Sovereign immunity protects government entities from certain lawsuits, and Good Samaritan laws offer protection to people who provide emergency assistance from being sued for negligence if they act reasonably. The term that fits the description of the failure to use ordinary or reasonable care is negligence.