In tort negligence lawsuits, foreseeability asks whether a person could or should reasonably have foreseen the harms that resulted from their actions. If resulting harms were not foreseeable, a defendant might successfully prove that they were not liable.

What does reasonably foreseeable mean?

Reasonably foreseeable means sufficiently likely to occur such that a person of ordinary prudence would take it into account in reaching a decision.

Is the damage foreseeable?

In order to recover damages, the claimant must also prove that the injury or damage was reasonably foreseeable. ... Usually, whether the damage was foreseeable will be obvious. On occasion, the courts have used the test of foreseeability to limit the consequences for which the defendant is made responsible.