Wal-Mart, bicycle builder named in $900,000 lawsuit

Kingsport Times-News ^ | January 16, 2006 | JEFF BOBO

[mlc9852]

I doubt he'll get that much but you never know. And without knowing details of what happened and why, I have no idea how much he should get, if any. But the article has brought out some Wal-Mart bashers.

[rebel_yell2]

After reading what some, but not I, would conclude is a "racist rant," I have to ask:

1. How do you know the assemblers were Mexican?

2. How do you know that they were working on contract basis as opposed to being hourly employees?

3. How do you know that they were being paid $6.00 per bike?

4. Even if you can provide reasonable answers to 1,2 and 3, how do you know that this is a representative sample of what you can find at Walmart as opposed to your sample of 1?

"Nuff said" indeed.

[mlc9852]

So BOTH brakes failed! Double the damages!

[maica]

When you buy a bike from Walmart, like it or not, you get what you paid for.

#####

A message being lost on many in our cuntry. I heard a discussion about a class action lawsuit against Wal-Mary by parents who bought bikes with quick release front wheels, whose wheels have come loose while in motion.

One father phoned the show to say that he bought a bike like this for his son and told the son to assemble the bike, because the father did not know that sort of stuff. This caller had a foreign accent and identified that he was a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The host of the show could not convince the caller that he had a responsibility to give his child something that he could not verify was safe.

[kinsman redeemer]

I just asked my son if he checks the brakes on his bike each time before he rides it.

He says he does. So I asked him "Why?"

"So I don't kill myself."

He's six years old.

[Rebelbase]

"The hot back then was to wear gloves with pads on the palms, reach over the handle bar and slow the bike by rubbing the pad on the tire"

Was that after you walked to and from school in 6' of snow, uphill both ways?

[HighWheeler]

"as he approached the Broadway Street intersection the brakes failed."


1) Probably poor journalist writing (big surprise), which should say "as he applied them, the brakes failed.

2) How do TWO sets of brakes fail at the same time?

3) I think an analysis of the bicycle will show that the kid failed to use the brakes correctly, if at all.

[kinsman redeemer]

I did think it was a racist rant, started to reply, but thought, "What's the use?"

[HighWheeler]

you're raising your son to be smart I see. good job.

[sausageseller]

Everyone hates lawyers til they need one

Usually the only reason they need to hire one is because some jerk hired one first!

[OldFriend]

Not so much about playing in traffic but many towns have ordinances not allowing bike riding on the sidewalks.

[depenzz]

How do we know the kid even applied the brakes? Maybe he was trying to beat the vehicle that hit him. One of the first things a young driver of an automobile says after they missed the stop sign is, "the brakes didn't work".

Hope the brakes on this bike aren't messed up too much from the accident that they can see if they actually worked.

[Theo]

When I was a kid, I'd fly through stop signs all the time. I'm confident that's what happened in this case.

[Melinda in TN]

I agree. I've bought several low price bikes and I always check them first thing. That's not enough though. Just like any vehicle, they must be checked periodically. No way I trust the kids I see working at Wal-Mart to assemble a bike.

[LadyDoc]

I agree...my son put bikes togethre for Walmart after 10 hours training...

BUt for most of us, we can afford 98 dollar bike at Walmart but not the 300 dollar at a bike store...

Especially since our boys tend to wreck the bikes fairly quickly

[mlc9852]

Yeah, like a spouse - lol.

[mlc9852]

The defense will definitely want you on their jury!

[N3WBI3]

If walmart assembled the bike and sold it that way they could be liable. That being said I would want every single medical receipt that mother has because 900,000 seems really high!

Let not all assume that She is lying (or that she is telling the truth) Walmart has good lawyers themselves and I am sure they will do their job..

[N3WBI3]

Thats what I want to know, but the 150K for medical is not nearly as interesting as 750K for medical expences..

[showme_the_Glory]

1/2 price should not equal 1/2 quality/safety, but, sometimes it does. Parents/buyers/lawyers beware.