In some circumstances it may be held by a court that an injured person making a claim for compensation was partly responsible for the injuries. This is called contributory negligence and it can result inthe compensation damages being proportionally reduced.

Contributory negligence may arise where it is felt that the injured person was partly responsible for an accident eg both drivers in a road accident being negligent or an employee's injury being partly caused by his own actions.

It can also be an issue where an injured person has failed to to observe certain safety precautions. This often happens where the injured party in a road accident was not wearing a seatbelt if it is felt that this would have reduced his injuries. A similar situation may arise with a an injured motorcylist not wearing a helmet.

There are also occasional attempts to claim contributory negligence against pedal cyclists who were not wearing a helmet. However, the situation here is less clear since, unlike seatbelts and motorcycle helmets, pedal cycle helmets are not compulsory. It cannot be argued therefore that they are in breach of a statutory requirement and furthermore some argue that cycle are only useful in certain types of accident. Such allegations of contributory negligence against pedal cyclists are resisted, usually successfully.

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