Another strike for Ford

[grizzly adam]

Apparently a jury just ordered (http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0503/03/E01-106007.htm) Ford Motor Co. to pay $30+ million for an accident.

This just really bothers me....

[transplant]

I know this has already been beaten to death in another forum, but what about personal resposibility? No seat belts, speeding and alcohol, even though the latter was 1/4 of the limit. I have a feeling they would have been ejected from just about any vehicle on the road under those conditions. Sure, they put 10% of the blame on the driver, but so what? What about the girls? Did the driver or Ford tell them not to wear the belts? Personal responsibility! Years ago I had the misfortune of rolling a TR-7. Both doors popped open, every window shattered and we both survived because we HAD BELTS ON. I guess I should have sued Triumph for my hitting the black ice and losing it.

[grizzly adam]

Yeah - that's what bothers me the most I think. The lack of personal responsibility. Someone pointed where I got the article from that they were all seniors and therefore most likely under 21. In which case Texas has a zero tolernace law, I guess. So the legal limit wouldn't matter for them. Oh well....

Awesome sig BTW!

[transplant]

Awesome sig BTW!

Thanks. I wondered if anyone else had the same low-grade sense of humor :D !

[manual63]

Ford argued to the jury that the driver's speeding caused the one-vehicle accident and that the deaths were caused by the women's failure to wear seat belts. The four occupants of the vehicle -- all high school seniors -- were returning to San Antonio from several graduation parties. They were all unbelted and ejected during the accident, Ford said.


As much as I agree the Explorer is a poor handling vehicle and there are some legit suits against Ford and it's horribly unsafe design......I don't agree with this suit at all. If anyone doesn't wear their seatbelt, which is a law if I remember correctly, they are 100% at fault for their deaths or injuries. I will like to see what happens in the appeal. If this suit still goes through, I would need to know more about the case and why these people would win it. Maybe they are concentrating on the other unsafe aspects of the Explorer, which are many, and for some reason it's enough to make people believe the crash would not have happened if the vehicle didn't loose control. But, not seatbelt.......come on!!!

WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS PEOPLE........no matter how big or safe you think your car is.

I am not going to debate this here......this is my opinion and that's it.

[Danimal]

Crap man! I wish I was a frivilous lawsuiteer, I rolled my 2000 GMC Jimmy 4x in Traverse county because of a crazy woman putting on makeup swerved into my lane, she never even stopped, didn't catch her either. I ended up with a concussion and a totalled out Jimmy. I coulda sued Mary Kay!

[Ish]

Don't want to start another debate over the McDonalds suit.......


Stella Awards




It's once again time to review the winners of the annual Stella Awards. The Stella's are named after 81 year old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's. That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the United States.

THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO:

5th Place (Tied)

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $780,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were
understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.

5th Place (Tied)

19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently did not notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal the hubcaps.

5th Place (Tied)

Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He could not re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for 8 days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The Jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.

4th Place

Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's Beagle dog. The Beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been a little provoked at the time as Mr. Williams, who had climbed over the fence into the yard, was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.

3rd Place

A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier, during an argument.

2nd Place

Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, sued the owner of a Night Club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out two of her front teeth. This occurred whilst Ms. Walton was trying to sneak in the window of the Ladies Room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.

1st Place!!!!!

This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new Winnebago Motor home. On his trip home from an OU football game, having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that he could not actually do this.
The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago Motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit just in case there were any other complete morons buying their recreational vehicles.

[mtnbykr]

Apparently a judge just ordered (http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0503/03/E01-106007.htm) Ford Motor Co. to pay $30+ million for an accident.

This just really bothers me....

you know what bothers me??

that this thread would be on the biking section of the forums. at least keep this krap over in the non-biking related section please.


kl

[Ish]

As much as I like to bash lawyers, after reading the 1st place entry, I'm calling foul and putting the whole list into question. The cruise control story has been an urban legend as far back as I can remember, at least late 70's when cruise was becoming much more common. My dad loved that story and he spread it far and wide. :crazy2:

Yes - but it is scary that these COULD BE true.......

Kurt - sorry - didn't even realize this wasn't over in the non-biking forum. I'm sure Grizz didn't realize. It's good krap though.......

[dave t]

WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS PEOPLE........no matter how big or safe you think your car is.

Even the biggest, badest SUV made can't keep you safe if you are tumbling down the road instead of strapped to your 20 way power adjustable captain's seat.

[SuperClydesdale]

Apparently a judge just ordered (http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0503/03/E01-106007.htm) Ford Motor Co. to pay $30+ million for an accident.

This just really bothers me....

Adam

A jury found Ford liable in the incident and awarded the $31M settlement, not a judge.

Mark

[manual63]

Yeah, this doesn't belong here, but John usually moves topics like this into the Non-Biking discussion........uh, John......?????

[manual63]

Yeah, a tainted jury. :eyeroll:

http://www.ksat.com/news/4246904/detail.html

Hopefully an appeal will get this case thrown out. There should be a law...speeding and no seatbelt.....thrown out......:). I know this can't be done and goes against the whole legal process, but sometimes it would be nice. You have to let them sue, but hopefully the system will work this time. By the way, the McDonald's lawsuit was not frivolous, it was a legitimate lawsuit.

[grizzly adam]

you know what bothers me??

that this thread would be on the biking section of the forums. at least keep this krap over in the non-biking related section please.


kl

Sorry for the misplacement Kurt - surely wasn't intentional.

How about this.....IF they would have had bikes in the back, I wonder what kind they would be?! DH, XC or trikes?

A jury found Ford liable in the incident and awarded the $31M settlement, not a judge.

Thanks for pointing that out.... :embarass:

[Kingbozo]

Don't want to start another debate over the McDonalds suit.......


Stella Awards




It's once again time to review the winners of the annual Stella Awards. The Stella's are named after 81 year old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's. That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the United States.

THIS YEAR'S AWARDS GO TO:

5th Place (Tied)

Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $780,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were
understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.

5th Place (Tied)

19 year old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently did not notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal the hubcaps.5th Place (Tied)

Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He could not re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for 8 days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The Jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.

4th Place

Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next door neighbor's Beagle dog. The Beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been a little provoked at the time as Mr. Williams, who had climbed over the fence into the yard, was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.

3rd Place

A Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier, during an argument.2nd Place

Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, sued the owner of a Night Club in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out two of her front teeth. This occurred whilst Ms. Walton was trying to sneak in the window of the Ladies Room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.

1st Place!!!!!

This year's runaway winner was Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new Winnebago Motor home. On his trip home from an OU football game, having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the RV left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that he could not actually do this.
The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new Winnebago Motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit just in case there were any other complete morons buying their recreational vehicles.





Origins: This "and you wonder what's wrong with the world today?" whinge appeared on the Internet in May 2001. All of the entries in the list are fabrications: a search for news stories about each of these cases failed to turn up anything, as did a search for each law case.

http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp

[manual63]

Origins: This "and you wonder what's wrong with the world today?" whinge appeared on the Internet in May 2001. All of the entries in the list are fabrications: a search for news stories about each of these cases failed to turn up anything, as did a search for each law case.

http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp


And even people here on the forums fall for this crap..........:p

When will they learn?