1. The fact, condition, or instance of a person’s either not having done what he or she ought to have done, or having done what he or she ought not to have done.
2. A person’s general disposition not to do something that ought to be done.
“The word ‘carelessness’ as a synonym for negligence can be committed by those who care deeply. A man may take all the care of which he is capable, and yet be accounted negligent for failing to reach the objective standard. He may honestly … believe that the facts are such that he is not imperilling anyone; but he may be held to have been negligent in arriving at that belief. An incompetent driver may be convicted of driving ‘without due care and attention’ even though he was doing his level best. The careless person is the person who does not take the care he ought to take: never mind whether he felt careful. He can be held to be negligent in making a perfectly honest mistake.” Glanville Williams, Textbook of Criminal Law 44–45 (1978).
