Posted on 02/11/2005 11:21:34 AM PST by UpHereEh
As a general rule, suing a seven-year-old won't score you any points with St. Peter. But Mary Ellen Michaels and her lawyer, Judson Hawkins, already have guaranteed reservations at the Burning Lake of Fire Spa & Resort. Our saga began when Michaels was rollerblading down a Metroparks bike path in Strongsville last spring. She came upon a seven-year-old riding a bike. Behind the boy was his grandma, who was watching him while his parents were on a trip to New Orleans.
Michaels yelled at the boy to get out of the way. The kid stopped his bike, giving Michaels barely enough room to pass. She tried to squeeze through, but never made it. The toe of her rollerblade caught the bike's rear wheel. Michaels' leg snapped, and her foot twisted 180 degrees. "This was a serious injury," says Hawkins.
Most people would chalk it up to bad luck. What are you gonna do, sue a seven-year-old?
Well, if you're Mary Ellen Michaels, yes.
And just to secure her future in the Land of 1,000 Screams, she also sued Grandma and the boy's parents, who were a thousand miles away at the time.
The boy's lawyer politely notes that this was a bad move. "Basically, what we said is that even if you accept everything she says as fact, she still doesn't have a case," says Patrick Roche. Translation in non-lawyerspeak: "What the %$#@ is wrong with you, Mary Ellen?"
Both the trial and the appellate courts tossed the case. But that doesn't mean the kid's getting off scot-free. Michaels directed her lawyer to fight all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court. "I don't take frivolous cases," says Hawkins, whose hobbies presumably include stealing old people's medicine and torturing kittens. "I did considerable research before I sued a seven-year-old. Given the nature of the injury, I thought it merited a lawsuit."
Our bike path does not have a limit, and it does not say to stay to the right.
Maybe you should make sure it's not your local municipality - elsewise you'll be paying for it.
That's right, and the driver of a vehicle being hit from behind does not always win a lawsuit.
Example: if a driver slams on brakes and stops very suddenly while driving on an interstate and is hit from behind, a jury might find that the driver created a "sudden emergency". It would be unreasonable to expect the second driver to stop just as suddenly.
It's hard to win with this defense, but it can be done. It's usually necessary to show that the plaintiff did not stop suddenly for a good reason (like another car stopped in the road), or in realistic terms, have a plaintiff that the jury hates and is looking for a reason to find against.
When I was a trial lawyer (yes, (hanging head in shame) I used to be a trial lawyer) I won a case where my client hit a lady from behind. I did some checking on her background, found out she had pulled the sudden stop stunt before (and gotten some bucks out of it) and managed to get all that in evidence before the jury.
It helped that she was an obnoxious federal employee.
I'll look for your obit then.. It's all a matter of time.
You sound like a better blader than most, but admit it, most bladers really suck and hog the road.
I'll look for your obit then.. It's all a matter of time.Actually not.
I have noticed over time and experience is that a cyclist must define his line, and not make sudden moves. Basically it's about a simple balance between accomodating faster traffic, and making sure they see me clearly, and I'm not riding the broken pavement.
Here's an example for you, if I come upon a blind curve to the right, I start inching out into traffic, so that when I get around the curve, cars behind me can see me EARLIER then they would if I was hugging the curve. That gives them time to adjust.
Seems to me that this moron decided to pass under unsafe conditions and is incapable of accepting the consequences of her bad judgement.
The kid should countersue for emotional distress.
Bike Path = bicycles.
No license required. No mandatory minimum speed. Learners are OK to use it. Unccordinated adults who like to speed may also use it, but are still responsible for their actions. The kid did not run into her.
I work in Scottsdale and feel bad for all the bikers - sure, there are "bike lanes" but with Hummers, BMW's, Lexus', and other speedy vehicles whizzing by you at all times... I don't know how they do it. I admire the bikers who brave those streets! :-)
I knew a lawyer once who also did a great job -- he got a charge of sodomy reduced to following too closely.
This auto accident case is my "brag case." I don't talk about all the ones I lost.
I am much happier now in the world of business.
Roller parks are for skateboarders, nt bladers, who always use trails and streets. I;ve never heard of a "bike path" being reserved for bikes, unless that's some sort of anal East coast thing. All the offroad paths i've ever used are for any unmotorized use of wheels.
I suppose she could use the RIAA technique of stealing the kid's college fund. So what if all the kid can look forward to for the rest of his life is the counter at McDonald's.
And as there's no indication of his grandma, supervising, taking any action or issuning any instruction, chances are the first warning the boy and his grandma had was a shout from behind, "get out of my %%&*5#@ way!"
"encountered", "met" = head to head
"came upon" = overtaking
I commute in the summer and my recumbent rolls along at 20+ mph - nothing scares me more than Mom and the "kids" out on what is a major bike trail - wandering from side to side or worse, riding 3 abreast - like they own the trail ggrrrr.
And they get upset when I slow or stop and try to explain it is much safer for everyone when "we ride on the right - single file"
I may have to replace my bell with an air horn.....
And YOU deserve to make a choice like that and the 7yr old kid doesn't? Double standards.
Words fail me.
We have far too many lawyers and an acute shortage of real justice and equity.
The appropriate analogy is not a road - It's the water.
On the water, a more maneuverable boat yields the right of way to a less maneuverable boat: Sailboats take priority over stin, er, power boats, and canoes, kayaks and rowboats have the right of way over sailboats.
She should have recognized that someone less maneuverable and slower moving than her was in the way, and acted accordingly.
Well...does the kid know how to read? :P
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