Conn. Civ. Jury Instr. 3.9-19

In describing the duties involved in this case, I have used the term "reasonable care."

Reasonable care is defined as the care which an ordinarily prudent or careful person would use in

view of the surrounding circumstances. You must determine the question by placing an

ordinarily prudent person in the situation of the defendant and ask yourselves: what would such

a person have done?

Note that it is the care that such a person would have used under the surrounding circumstances,

that is, in view of the facts known or the facts of which the party should have been aware at the

time. The standard of care required, that of an ordinarily prudent person under the

circumstances, never varies, but the degree or amount of care may vary with those

circumstances.

For example, in circumstances of slight risk or danger, a slight amount of care might be

sufficient to constitute reasonable care, while in circumstances of greater risk or danger, a

correspondingly greater amount of care would be required to constitute reasonable care.