A driver and a motorcyclist both negligently collided in an intersection. The force of the impact caused the motorcyclist's vehicle to skid onto the sidewalk, where it struck a pedestrian. The pedestrian suffered a broken leg and sued both the driver and the motorcyclist. A court determined that the pedestrian's injury was indivisible and that both the driver and the motorcyclist were negligent. Under the common law doctrine of joint and several liability, for what portion of the pedestrian's damages is the driver potentially liable to the pedestrian?
For the entire amount of the damages.
For fifty percent of the damages, as there are two tortfeasors.
Only for the portion of damages causally attributable to the driver's own negligence.
For no portion of the damages, because the motorcyclist's vehicle was the one that directly struck the pedestrian.
The correct answer is that the driver is potentially liable for the entire amount of the damages. Under the traditional common law doctrine of joint and several liability, when the negligent acts of two or more persons concur to produce a single, indivisible injury, each tortfeasor is individually liable for the entire amount of the plaintiff's damages. The plaintiff can choose to collect the full judgment from any one of the liable defendants. The defendants may then seek contribution from each other to apportion the damages among themselves, but this does not affect the plaintiff's right to full recovery from a single defendant. The other options are incorrect because they misstate the rule by suggesting liability is limited to a direct or proportionate share, which contradicts the core principle of joint and several liability for an indivisible injury.
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What does 'indivisible injury' mean in the context of joint and several liability?
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What are contribution claims, and how do they work in joint and several liability cases?