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]