Bicyclist sues child roller-skater over accident

[Melisinde]

Oh man, I e-mailed this to both my civil litigation professor and my negligence and personal injury professor. Can't wait to see what they have to say about it!

So let's play. The elements of negligence (easy trick to remember them is A-B-C-D):

A- A duty of care for those around you and to yourself

B- Breach of that duty

C- Causation (because defendant did thing, other thing happened to plaintiff)

D- Damages

I hate to say this. I really do. It looks like what the girl did might satisfy the legal definition of negligence. If a bike is considered a vehicle, then it belongs in the road. Therefore, the girl on skates has a duty of care to herself to not expose herself to the dangers of vehicles. She breached that duty by skating in the road. Because she was in the road, the biker lost control of his bike/collided with her. The damages are obvious; he sustained injury.

Do I still think it's a good case? No. I'm surprised it wasn't thrown out by the judge as a frivolous lawsuit. The bit about being over 7 is b.s. too... being responsible for your actions. Again though, an 11 year old should know to stay out of the street.

I'm not sure how NJ does it, but this is a comparative and contributory negligence case to me. In order to prevail in PA, the plaintiff must be 50% or less at fault. Seems to me that this case could be 50/50 split at-fault, so who knows. I'll have to ask my personal injury and negligence professor on Thursday.

For the record, I think the doctor is a dumbass. Legally though, he has standing to sue. Just sayin'...

 

[GlitchWizard]

Now that I think about it Glitch....he was probably at the fertility clinic helping to make more kids he can sue in the future. :crazy:

This explains why I think he's a whack job.


Having the right to sue, doesn't mean you should sue. There was a suit filed against the State here in Florida several years ago that I saw when I worked at the Dept. of Insurance. A lady took a nap in a library and an ant bit her on the eyelid. She was suing the library. I wasn't able to follow up to see what happened, but I did mumble "dumba$$" as I xeroxed the paperwork.

Oh, and my personal favorite one was an inmate who was suing that the state should supply him with new expensive tennis shoes that someone had stolen from him in prison. A quick search on the DOC website showed that he was in prison for burglary. :bang:

 

[JanetElaine]

Legally though, he has standing to sue. Just sayin'...

Melisinde, I think you can rest easy.... since the jury threw it out.

BTW congratulations on your weight loss! Keep kickin' butt.

 

[WholeLottaRosie]

Your Honor, is it OK to refer to the Doctor as a Jackass.

No, that is completely unacceptable.

Well, your honor, could I refer to a Jackass as a Doctor.

Well, yes, I think you you could.

Your Honor, in the case of Doctor Dlugi............................

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to go to the dr this afternoon and I came THIS close to asking my dr to take the Jackass test!

 

[JBean]

Your Honor, is it OK to refer to the Doctor as a Jackass.

No, that is completely unacceptable.

Well, your honor, could I refer to a Jackass as a Doctor.

Well, yes, I think you you could.

Your Honor, in the case of Doctor Dlugi............................

Buzz. you have been getting your naps in haven't you? LMAO.

 

[Nova]

...I hate to say this. I really do. It looks like what the girl did might satisfy the legal definition of negligence. If a bike is considered a vehicle, then it belongs in the road. Therefore, the girl on skates has a duty of care to herself to not expose herself to the dangers of vehicles. She breached that duty by skating in the road. Because she was in the road, the biker lost control of his bike/collided with her. The damages are obvious; he sustained injury.

I don't know about NJ, but in California (or at least some California cities), skaters are required to be in the road. They are banned from sidewalks out of consideration for pedestrians.

 

[Melisinde]

Melisinde, I think you can rest easy.... since the jury threw it out.

BTW congratulations on your weight loss! Keep kickin' butt.

Thanks so much! *hugs*

I sent the story to my professors for civil litigation and negligence and personal injury and they got a kick out of it. Turns out, my NPI professor knows the attorney representing the family of the girl. New Jersey is so close to us here in PA...

 

[Melisinde]

I don't know about NJ, but in California (or at least some California cities), skaters are required to be in the road. They are banned from sidewalks out of consideration for pedestrians.

Hmm, I'm going to have to look it up. My husband who grew up in Seal Beach and then later Folsom said skates went on the sidewalk because they're still considered pedestrian. Bikes are considered vehicles and must be on the road. *shrug* I believe that's how it goes in Pa. Will have to look up NJ...

Btw, how are you my friend? Haven't really talked to you lately. Been too busy with school to post much.

 

[Nova]

Hmm, I'm going to have to look it up. My husband who grew up in Seal Beach and then later Folsom said skates went on the sidewalk because they're still considered pedestrian. Bikes are considered vehicles and must be on the road. *shrug* I believe that's how it goes in Pa. Will have to look up NJ...

Btw, how are you my friend? Haven't really talked to you lately. Been too busy with school to post much.

I'm well, thanks. How are you? School sounds very interesting. I miss working at a law firm, sometimes, but working at a theater has its drama, too!

I could be wrong about the skating laws. I used to be a skate fanatic and the laws vary from town to town. A lot of places ban them entirely from some areas, thanks to old people who feel terrorized by skating kids.

I skated mostly along the Los Angeles coast. Although we used the bike path, I believe that there skates were banned from the bike path, but allowed on the boardwalk (which was entirely too rough and torn up to skate on, of course).

So maybe I got the whole "skating in the street" thing backwards.

 

[Melisinde]

I'm well, thanks. How are you? School sounds very interesting. I miss working at a law firm, sometimes, but working at a theater has its drama, too!

I could be wrong about the skating laws. I used to be a skate fanatic and the laws vary from town to town. A lot of places ban them entirely from some areas, thanks to old people who feel terrorized by skating kids.

I skated mostly along the Los Angeles coast. Although we used the bike path, I believe that there skates were banned from the bike path, but allowed on the boardwalk (which was entirely too rough and torn up to skate on, of course).

So maybe I got the whole "skating in the street" thing backwards.

Well, I looked it up. It seems that for all intents and purposes, according to NJ law anyway, a bicycle is a vehicle and a rollerskater is a pedestrian, so... still looking to see if pedestrians get the right of way.

My class is going to be pissed at me though. I sent this to my professor just because... and I got an e-mail earlier saying that we were going to go over it in class tonight. We're supposed to have an exam. I hope people don't think that because I sent the article in, we're going to stay and learn instead of going straight home after the test. *sigh*

 

[Nova]

Well, I looked it up. It seems that for all intents and purposes, according to NJ law anyway, a bicycle is a vehicle and a rollerskater is a pedestrian, so... still looking to see if pedestrians get the right of way.

My class is going to be pissed at me though. I sent this to my professor just because... and I got an e-mail earlier saying that we were going to go over it in class tonight. We're supposed to have an exam. I hope people don't think that because I sent the article in, we're going to stay and learn instead of going straight home after the test. *sigh*

Well, you find the case interesting and so do lots of us here. Your professor thinks it's worth the class time.

So if your fellow future-lawyers can't be bothered, I'd like a list of their names so I can be sure to never hire them. :doh:

Thanks for the clarification on what is a "vehicle." Sorry if I made more work for you with my faulty memory.

 

[Melisinde]

Well, you find the case interesting and so do lots of us here. Your professor thinks it's worth the class time.

So if your fellow future-lawyers can't be bothered, I'd like a list of their names so I can be sure to never hire them. :doh:

Thanks for the clarification on what is a "vehicle." Sorry if I made more work for you with my faulty memory.

Awww, you didn't make more work for me! I was looking it up anyways. It's why I didn't reply yesterday. I wanted to come back with the full story. I'm still knee-deep in NJ statute at the moment, but that's the little bit I came up with.

Most of my classes hate me anyways lol. I supposedly "ask too many questions." People were making bitchy comments to me during a test because I have a bad cold and my coughing was "distracting to them." Multiple people complained supposedly. The nerve! I can't help it I'm sick. I also was drinking a 1.5 L of water and downing cough drops, so it's not like I wasn't trying to quiet myself during the test. *sigh* My feeling is this- if coughing distracts you, then you just don't know your stuff when it comes to the test. My coughing was more distracting to me than it could have been for anyone... and I got a 98.5 on the test.

 

[Nova]

Melli, since I made work for you I felt so guilty I did some research myself. (I don't have access to Lexis/Nexis.)

http://inlineskating.about.com/b/a/162531.htm


This site talks about the need to change California laws so that skaters are no longer classified as pedestrians, but as an "alternative form of transportation."

So it appears CA law is similar to NJ. Looking at various skater sites, however, it doesn't appear the law is often enforced here (though that wouldn't matter to civil suit like we are discussing here, of course).

 

[Nova]

Awww, you didn't make more work for me! I was looking it up anyways. It's why I didn't reply yesterday. I wanted to come back with the full story. I'm still knee-deep in NJ statute at the moment, but that's the little bit I came up with.

Most of my classes hate me anyways lol. I supposedly "ask too many questions." People were making bitchy comments to me during a test because I have a bad cold and my coughing was "distracting to them." Multiple people complained supposedly. The nerve! I can't help it I'm sick. I also was drinking a 1.5 L of water and downing cough drops, so it's not like I wasn't trying to quiet myself during the test. *sigh* My feeling is this- if coughing distracts you, then you just don't know your stuff when it comes to the test. My coughing was more distracting to me than it could have been for anyone... and I got a 98.5 on the test.

Good grief! The complainers should only have a bad cold the first time they address a jury!

As for "asking too many questions," yeah, you're evil! How dare you want to know your field!?

 

[Buzz Mills]

For the inline skater to be in the wrong in this situation, they would have had to intentionally take the "A......." doctor and his bike, out. Otherwise it is essentially the same as a vehicle hitting another from behind. Seldom will you ever find an occasion where the vehicle in front, is in the wrong. The jury saw the case for what it was, and that is that the "A......." doctor had no case against the girl, and especially against an 11 year old girl, who had no malice aforethought. It is only too bad that the girl's didn't file a countersuit against the "A......" doctor

I only wished the news article would have stated that the doctor had to pay the familiy's attorney(s) and was responsible for all court costs, as well as any reasonable additional costs to the family.