Question

Dixie, a driver for Express Delivery Company, leaves the truck's motor running in neutral and carelessly forgets to set the parking brake while she makes a delivery. The truck rolls and crashes into a nearby gas station pump, igniting a fire that spreads quickly to a construction site a block away. A burned wall collapses onto a crane, which falls on Fazio, a bystander, and injures him. What must Fazio show to recover damages from Express Delivery?

Answer 1

To recover on the basis of negligence, Fazio must show that Express Delivery owed him a duty of care that Express Delivery (through Dixie) breached the duty which hurt Fazio and that it was caused by the breach of Express Delivery.
There is no question that Dixie was acting on behalf of Express Delivery while driving the truck and that her actions breached the duty of reasonable care needed to park the truck. Fazio was also injured not by his own fault, by a crane falling on him. Responsibility depends on whether Fazio can relate the breach of duty of Dixie to his injury. Fazio should prove that the chain of events was a predictable result of the carelessness of Dixie. The issue of predictability is decided by the proximate cause test the connection needed to recover damage from Fazio.