DANGER
danger. 1. Peril; exposure to harm, loss, pain, or other negative result. 2. A cause of peril; a
apparent danger. 1. Obvious danger; real danger. — Also termed patent danger. 2.Criminal
law. The perceived danger in one person’s actions toward another, as a result of which it seems
necessary for the threatened person to use force in self-defense. See SELF-DEFENSE. [Cases:
Homicide 787.]
deterrent danger.An obvious danger that an occupier of land creates to discourage trespassers,
such as a barbed-wire fence or spikes on the top of a wall.
extraordinary danger. See extraordinary hazard under HAZARD.
imminent danger. 1. An immediate, real threat to one’s safety that justifies the use of force in
self-defense. 2.Criminal law. The danger resulting from an immediate threatened injury sufficient
to cause a reasonable and prudent person to defend himself or herself. [Cases: Homicide 789.]
patent danger.See apparent danger (1).
retributive danger.A concealed danger that an occupier of land creates to injure trespassers. •
A retributive danger is lawful only to the extent that it could be justified if the occupier had
inflicted the injury personally or directly to the trespasser. Thus, a spring gun or a land mine is an
unlawful means of defending land against a trespasser.
seeming danger.Danger that a reasonable person would perceive to be real, even if it is not.
unavoidable danger. 1. Inescapable danger. 2. A danger that is unpreventable, esp. by a person
operating a vessel. [Blacks Law 8th]