Amtrak sued in teen's death

[daveyb99]

Lawyers don't bring lawsuits.
Litigious people bring lawsuits.

That would make sense IF the financial arrangement of "you don't pay unless we collect" was not in play, which it always is in a personal injury case.

If the so-called litigious person had to front the cash, these cases would never be filed.

 

[MrFSS]

I'm a long time retired casualty claim adjuster. Worked cases from a few dollars to millions over the years. You wouldn't believe what people will sue for, and sometimes win.

I remember one where we insured the manufacturer of helicopters. A company that bought one sent their qualified pilot into the plant to pick up a new one they just bought. While flying it back, it ran out of gas, crashed, and the pilot was killed. His estate won the lawsuit as the instruction book, no where in it, said, make sure you have enough gas for the trip you are taking.

You never know.

 

[crescent2]

Good grief!

Now we know why fast food coffee cups and microwave dinners say, "Caution! Contents may be hot." :unsure:

 

[SarahZ]

I'm a long time retired casualty claim adjuster. Worked cases from a few dollars to millions over the years. You wouldn't believe what people will sue for, and sometimes win.
I remember one where we insured the manufacturer of helicopters. A company that bought one sent their qualified pilot into the plant to pick up a new one they just bought. While flying it back, it ran out of gas, crashed, and the pilot was killed. His estate won the lawsuit as the instruction book, no where in it, said, make sure you have enough gas for the trip you are taking.

You never know.

Ugh. Come on. At some point, we need to remove the stupidity clauses and warning stickers and let natural selection sort everything out. The gene pool would be stronger for it.

 

[SarahZ]

To be fair, the little old lady who spilled coffee in her lap only wanted money to cover her medical bills and was really embarrassed about the whole thing. McDonald's refused, lawyers got involved, etc There's some interesting info here:

http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/ubb/get_topic/f/107/t/000479.html

 

[George Harris]

To be fair, the little old lady who spilled coffee in her lap only wanted money to cover her medical bills and was really embarrassed about the whole thing. McDonald's refused, lawyers got involved, etc There's some interesting info here:
http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/ubb/get_topic/f/107/t/000479.html

Sorry, I can't even see going for that one. It was still her own fault. We had a similar one, and it was even McDonald's coffee, quite a few years ago. Got some pain killers, salve for burn, and went on our way. To bring a suit did not even cross our minds.

 

[Ryan]

You can see what you want, but the facts in the case are what they are. McDonalds was serving coffee that caused third degree burns in less than 5 seconds. You don't get some pain killers and go on your merry way for third degree burns, you go to the hospital for debridement and skin grafts.

 

[chakk]

Are kids no longer to taught to look both ways before crossing anything? I think that was one of the first things I was taught along with don't talk to strangers.
I'm sorry for the child, and if the train indeed did not sound a horn he's probably going to win. However, unless the child is deaf, how can you not hear a train coming? Not only can you hear them, you can feel them.

I don't know. Seems people no longer display common sense nor teach children anymore.

I do not agree with the lawsuit, but I do know from personal experience (with the Auto Train) that it can approach a station platform at high speed without being heard or felt -- and with my back turned to the direction that it was coming from -- and not seen.

I was surprised to see it running on the left hand track through this station in Virginia south of Lorton -- I had mistakenly assumed that it would be on the right-hand track. I had momentarily forgotten the Cardinal Rule to expect a train on any track, at any time, from any direction.

I was not on the track. But I was closer to the tracks than I generally consider comfortable for observing a passing train. Lesson (re-)learned.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Lawyers.
Everything wrong with America today.

(ok, just most of it)

Sadly, if the lawyers didn't have clients, they'd have gone out of business long ago... does one blame the gun (and/or the manufacturer) for shooting somebody, or the person that pulled the trigger?

Big difference. One of them has no ability to think rationally or do the right thing. The other is just a piece of manufactured metal.

Exactly the case here!

Good grief!Now we know why fast food coffee cups and microwave dinners say, "Caution! Contents may be hot." :unsure:

Common sense, but the lawyers are gonna make a big deal out of it anyway. It's all about money.....

 

[crescent2]

Did the little old lady use a lawyer, too? Does Amtrak make use of lawyers?

There are greedy lawyers just like there are greedy anything elses, but I'm still not seeing that a lawsuit is the attorney's fault. Not all of them are ambulance chasers.

Not sure how I became the attorney defender here! :huh: I'm not a fan of most of them myself, but, in fairness, the client has to initiate the lawsuit.

 

[Ryan]

As was pointed out upthread, the client would be a little more hesitant to initiate if they were going to be on the hook for the costs if they were to lose.

Yes, there are some good lawyers out there. Most of them spend their time defending against crap lawsuits like this one.

 

[SarahZ]

To be fair, the little old lady who spilled coffee in her lap only wanted money to cover her medical bills and was really embarrassed about the whole thing. McDonald's refused, lawyers got involved, etc There's some interesting info here:
http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/ubb/get_topic/f/107/t/000479.html

Sorry, I can't even see going for that one. It was still her own fault. We had a similar one, and it was even McDonald's coffee, quite a few years ago. Got some pain killers, salve for burn, and went on our way. To bring a suit did not even cross our minds.

Did you even read what I linked? This wasn't something Tylenol and burn cream would have fixed.

All she wanted were her medical costs, something like $400 (I believe her insurance covered most of it). McDonald's pitched a fit, and that's when she sued. She still only wanted just enough for the bills, but she was awarded 2-ish million. She ended up getting around $400,000, but everyone remembers "2 million".

Facts = good.

 

[Ryan]

Not when those facts conflict your preconceived notion of the way things should be.

 

[George Harris]

Ryan/Sorcha: OK, I feel duly smacked down. Yes I remember the case. Did not know she was only asking for medical costs. That does seem fairly close to logical. But still, they did not drop it, she did. We were out about half that in our case, because we did go by the local hospital ER (this was a smaller town.) It just did not occur to either of us to go after McDonalds for the cost. Some of the area she had was close to 2nd. Since our normal fast cup option was/is to go the instant route with boiling water, coffee right at boiling temperature has always been my working assumption: Coffee fresh out of the pot is right at boiling.

I yield to you. Will say no more.

 

[pennyk]

Everyone hate lawyers, except for the lawyer who is defending their rights and looking out for their interests.

Thanks Bill. Not every lawyer is an ambulance chaser, in fact most attorneys are not personal injury attorneys. Without lawyers, we would not have any product safety laws that protect all of us.

 

[Shanghai]

Everyone hate lawyers, except for the lawyer who is defending their rights and looking out for their interests.

Thanks Bill. Not every lawyer is an ambulance chaser, in fact most attorneys are not personal injury attorneys. Without lawyers, we would not have any product safety laws that protect all of us.

There are a few "good" lawyers, particularly Tax Lawyers, especially if they are from Florida!!

 

[Ryan]

Truth!

Sorry, Penny - I didn't mean to be personally insulting. It's just frustrating to see a subset of the profession screw things up so terribly (for everyone, since the cost of these lawsuits just gets passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices).

 

[VentureForth]

The train failed to swerve out of the path of the car. It won't be difficult to convince a jury.

He was walking.

Just once I'd like to see the railroads win a counter suit for the damages and service disruption and the crew follow through and win their own lawsuit...

In Japan they do just that:

Train companies charge the families of suicide victims for damages caused by the suicides. JR East is just one of several train and subway companies operating in the Tokyo area, but it is widely rumored that JR East became the most popular line for suicides because it charged the bereaved families the least.

Though this particular snippet has to do with suicides, a) who's to know if that kid didn't want to commit suicide, and b) the awareness that it can come back against you and your family should act as a deterrent.

In fact, the fees in Japan have acted as a sort of deterrent. The concept of honor in Japan makes it difficult for many to cause such a financial burden on their family by their actions. Obviously, though, this concept isn't 100% successful.

 

[Ocala Mike]

I watched a program last night about supposedly the world's busiest railroad station in Tokyo. It was pointed out that, although suicide is extremely prevalent in Japanese society, the word itself is more or less taboo. The station personnel refer to it as a "human incident" when someone, as is quite common, throws themselves in the path of an oncoming commuter train, causing a problem with the scheduled movement of trains.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Everyone hate lawyers, except for the lawyer who is defending their rights and looking out for their interests.

Thanks Bill. Not every lawyer is an ambulance chaser, in fact most attorneys are not personal injury attorneys. Without lawyers, we would not have any product safety laws that protect all of us.

There are a few "good" lawyers, particularly Tax Lawyers, especially if they are from Florida!!

Ditto! And of all things, some are even Liberal Democrats! ^_^

 

[rainyday6]

Last October I was waiting for CalTrain to take me to the Peter Gabriel concert. Some idiot in a car up the tracks had tried to beat the train and got away with minor damage. Of course, the trains were held up while the authorities did what they do. I sat there steaming, thinking how I might just sue the idiot in small claims for the cost of my trip and tickets. I wholeheartedly support Amtrak and commuter train agencies turning the tables on these people. By the time a train finally came, we were packed in like sardines and when we got off, we had about ten minutes to get to the arena.

 

[tp49]

Everyone hate lawyers, except for the lawyer who is defending their rights and looking out for their interests.

Thanks Bill. Not every lawyer is an ambulance chaser, in fact most attorneys are not personal injury attorneys. Without lawyers, we would not have any product safety laws that protect all of us.

Seconded.

Also keep in mind that the court has the means to sanction attorneys for filing frivolous lawsuits and there are cases where plaintiffs have been required to pay the costs for the defendant as well.

 

[SouthernServesTheSouth]

Most lawyers in these crazy cases, rely on the defending attorney and party to settle without the benefit of a court setting. They expect the corporations to avoid publicity and the expense of court. I expect there are a lot more of these off the books settlements out there.

 

[crescent2]

Thanks, Penny.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I watched a program last night about supposedly the world's busiest railroad station in Tokyo. It was pointed out that, although suicide is extremely prevalent in Japanese society, the word itself is more or less taboo. The station personnel refer to it as a "human incident" when someone, as is quite common, throws themselves in the path of an oncoming commuter train, causing a problem with the scheduled movement of trains.

Oh wow, with all the crowds of people packing Japanese commuter train, and then someone just jumps in and gets smashed up, that must schock many people to craziness!