What is a necessary element for statutory negligence to apply?

Statutory negligence, also known as negligence per se, occurs when a defendant violates a statute or regulation designed to protect a specific class of individuals, leading to injury. A critical element for statutory negligence to apply is that the plaintiff must belong to a protected class that the statute is intended to benefit. This requirement establishes a direct link between the legislative intent behind the statute and the individual claiming injury.

For instance, if a law aims to protect pedestrians by imposing certain duties on drivers, only injured pedestrians can claim negligence per se under that statute. The focus here is on ensuring that the individual harmed is one of the intended beneficiaries of the law, thus validating their claim against the violator of the statute. This ensures that the legal remedy serves its purpose of protecting those the law is meant to safeguard.

In contrast, the other choices do not capture this essential characteristic of statutory negligence. General applicability of the statute is not sufficient if the injured party is not among those the statute seeks to protect. Similarly, compliance with all regulations is irrelevant to the claim of statutory negligence since the violation itself is what gives rise to the claim. Lastly, the location of the incident, whether on public or private property, does not determine the applicability of statutory negligence; rather, it