What is proximate cause?
Proximate cause is the legal link between what someone did and the injury that followed. The careless act has to be a real cause of the harm, and the harm has to be the kind a person could foresee. Without that link, the careless person is generally not liable.
Last checked November 9, 2026 · Official sources (5)
Proximate cause example: which bills did the crash cause?
Example: a driver runs a stop sign and T-bones your car. You go to urgent care that day for shoulder pain ($800), do eight weeks of physical therapy ($3,200), and four months later have shoulder surgery ($18,000). The insurer agrees its driver caused the crash. It offers to pay the first $4,000 and says the surgery was caused by an old sports injury.
That is a proximate cause dispute. The question is not who caused the crash but which harms the crash caused. To get the surgery included, your records need to show the crash was a substantial factor in it and that without the crash the surgery would not have been needed. An earlier injury does not end the argument, because the crash does not have to be the only cause.
Why does proximate cause matter to your claim?
Causation is where many claims lose money. Adjusters look for gaps in treatment, earlier complaints in your records, and a later fall or new job that could explain the pain. Each one is used to cut bills from the claim. Seeing a doctor promptly, telling every provider how the injury happened, and keeping up with treatment all help draw a clear line from the crash to each bill.
How do Arizona and Texas use proximate cause?
| State | Rule |
|---|---|
| Texas | Two parts: cause in fact and foreseeability. The conduct need not be the only cause if it was a substantial factor. |
| Arizona | Your damages are reduced only by your own fault that was a proximate cause of the injury. A careless act of yours that did not contribute should not count. |
Courts in other states use the same basic idea: a person is generally liable only for injuries proximately caused by what they did or failed to do.
Proximate cause vs. cause in fact
Cause in fact asks whether the harm would have happened without the act; lawyers call it the "but for" test. Proximate cause adds a fairness limit: was this kind of harm foreseeable? A crash can be a cause in fact of almost anything that follows, but the law cuts off results that are too remote.
Questions
Can I recover if I had a prior injury?
Often, for the part the crash made worse. The crash must be a substantial factor, not the only cause.
Who decides proximate cause?
Usually the jury, based on medical records and testimony. During negotiations, the adjuster makes its own call.
Does not wearing a seat belt affect causation?
It can. Some states let the defense argue that nonuse caused part of the injury, which is a causation argument.
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See if I’m owed moneySources (5)
- Windrum v. Kareh (Tex. 2019), checked 2026-11-09. “Proximate cause consists of (1) cause in fact, and (2) foreseeability.”
- Windrum v. Kareh (Tex. 2019), checked 2026-11-09. “that a defendant’s act or omission need not be the sole cause of an injury, as long as it is a substantial factor in bringing about the injury.”
- A.R.S. § 12-2505, checked 2026-11-09. “the full damages shall be reduced in proportion to the relative degree of the claimant's fault which is a proximate cause of the injury or death, if any.”
- Windrum v. Kareh (Tex. 2019), checked 2026-11-09. “is established when the act or omission was a substantial factor in bringing about the injuries, and without it, the harm would not have occurred.”
- Washington Courts, Glossary of Legal Terms, checked 2026-11-09. “A person generally is liable only if an injury was proximately caused by his or her action or by his or her failure to act when he or she had a duty to act.”