Question:medium

What defense could be used when an injury is caused to a person due to unforeseen or unexpected events in spite of reasonable care taken by him?

Updated On: Jul 13, 2026
  • Inevitable accident
  • Act of third party
  • Act of God
  • None
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Three defences in tort law sound similar on first read, inevitable accident, act of a third party, and act of God, telling them apart comes down to asking what exactly caused the harm and who or what was behind it.

  1. Inevitable accident: here the cause is simply unpredictable, despite the defendant doing everything a reasonably careful person would do, something still went wrong that nobody could have seen coming, that is the whole point of this question, an unforeseen event happening in spite of reasonable care, which is exactly what inevitable accident is meant to cover.
  2. Act of third party: this defence needs a specific outside person whose independent act actually caused the harm, cutting the defendant out of the chain of causation, the question gives no indication of any such outside person stepping in, so this defence does not match.
  3. Act of God: this defence is reserved for natural events, storms, floods, earthquakes, working entirely without human involvement and beyond what anyone could have prepared for. The question does not say the event was a natural force, it only says the event was unforeseen, so act of God adds a requirement the question never mentions.
  4. None: since a recognised defence exists for exactly this fact pattern, this option is incorrect.

Matching the fact pattern, an unpredictable event despite full reasonable care, and nothing said about a third party or a natural force, points to inevitable accident as the defence that fits.

The correct answer is Inevitable accident.

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