Superior-Knowledge Rule Law and Legal Definition
Superior knowledge rule refers to a principle of tort law that when a property owner has knowledge of some hazardous condition existing on the property and the condition is not obvious to a person exercising reasonable care, the owner must make the premises reasonably safe or else warn others of the hazardous condition. The rule is subject to exceptions like when the invitee is aware of the danger or that the danger is an obvious one. The "superior knowledge" rule generally applies in premises liability cases. Superior knowledge rule is also known as equal-or-superior-knowledge rule.
The following is an example of a case law on the rule:
The superior knowledge rule “is the practical application of a rule that a knowledgeable plaintiff cannot recover damages if by ordinary care he could have avoided the consequences of defendant's negligence.”[McCray v. FedEx Ground Package Sys., 291 Ga. App. 317, 322 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008)]
