Immediate Cause

Immediate Cause

The final act in a series of provocations leading to a particular result or event, directly producing such result without the intervention of any further provocation.

For example, if an individual who was driving while intoxicated crashed his or her car and was killed, the immediate cause of death was the crash. The proximate cause, however, was the individual's state of intoxication.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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