Wanton Act Law and Legal Definition
Wanton act is an act done by a person in reckless disregard of the rights of another. When a person does an act without considering its consequences it is called a wanton act. Such an act is more than negligence or gross negligence. It is equal to the effects of a willful misconduct. When a person commits a wrongful act intentionally having reckless indifference to the potential harmful consequences it will amount to a wanton act.
Following is an example of a case law definition of wanton act. “A wilful or wanton injury must have been intentional or the act must have been committed under circumstances exhibiting a reckless disregard for the safety of others, such as a failure, after knowledge of impending danger, to exercise ordinary care to prevent it or a failure to discover the danger through recklessness or carelessness when it could have been discovered by the exercise of ordinary care.” Ziarko v. Soo Line R.R., 161 Ill. 2d 267, 273 (Ill. 1994).
