Posted on 01/16/2006 3:27:57 AM PST by beaversmom
ROGERSVILLE - The mother of a Rogersville boy who was injured in an accident last year on a new bicycle has filed a $900,000 lawsuit against the bike manufacturer and Wal-Mart, where the bike was purchased.
Elizabeth Burton, 625 S. Armstrong St., Rogersville, is the mother of Eric Burton, who was injured in an accident on Jan. 9, 2005. The boy's sister had received the Roadmaster Mountain Sport bicycle as a Christmas present from their father.
According to the lawsuit filed on behalf of the Burtons by Morristown attorney Gary E. Brewer, on Jan. 9 of last year Eric Burton was riding his sister's new bike on South Armstrong Street, but as he approached the Broadway Street intersection the brakes failed.
The bike didn't stop and continued onto Broadway Street into the path of an oncoming vehicle which had the right of way, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit further contends that as a result of the accident Eric Burton was severely injured, was hospitalized and will undergo continuing medical treatment.
Aside from Wal-Mart, the other defendants in the lawsuit include Pacific Cycle, Inc., based in Wilmington, Del., as well as its parent company Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc., which is to be served with the lawsuit in Columbus, Ind.
The lawsuit alleges that Pacific Cycle manufactured the bicycle in a defective condition, making it unsafe. The lawsuit also alleges that Wal-Mart assembled the bicycle.
"The defendant (Wal-Mart) assembled and sold the bicycle in an unsafe condition and design when they knew or should have known by the exercise of ordinary care that the bicycle would be subject to failure," the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit seeks $750,000 for injuries and damages and another $150,000 for medical expenses. The defendants have 30 days from the Jan. 6 filing date of the lawsuit to either file a response or seek a time extension.
Perhaps good advice for both of us. A kid got hit by a car. I don't think it was a fundraising effort. If you have any experience with a bike you'll know that if both brakes were applied and the rear one were to fail the kid was in for a header over the handle bars. If he were it traffic at the time he could have been hit by a car. It is nearly impossible to safely stop a bike with the front brake alone.
Calm down and switch to the green can. Leave you hatred of lawyers by the door, you might need one someday.
Has anyone ever checked out how well floor models are are put together? Always check the workmanship of a product before letting YOUR child use it. Common sense!
The brakes worked for 16 days prior to the incident. What changed such that the brakes would 'fail?'
Now yes, I am pretty skeptical, but 'round here the boys consistently tamper with the brakes on their bikes such that they don't work. Something about it being 'cool.'
The article doesn't say what the age difference is between the little girl and her brother. Again, the bike wasn't designed for his use.
I don't know how much more time you want to invest in an arguement of the facts in a matter wherein neither you nor I have the facts. I'm done but you really do seem to be getting quite enough caffeine.
What if he applied the hand brakes and the cable slipped out of the caliper?"
What? On the front and rear brake at the same time?
I believe the poster meant that if he hit both brakes, and the hand brakes worked and the rear didn't, it would cause the rider to flip over the front of the bike, or worse. In other words, one doesn't use the front brakes without using the rear brakes....unless they are very, very careful.
Why blame the lawyer when it was the family who contacted the attorney? I doubt he went to them, or even knew about the accident.
But, not all lawyers are ambulance chasers. I have attorneys in my family and none of them chase down accidents. They are conservatives, but wouldn't turn down a good case. As for the brakes, I worked in a bicycle plant for nearly 25 years and put brakes on bikes for a few of those years. If the cable is not pulled tight enough, the brakes won't work. It it's pulled too tight, they won't work. If the small screw isn't tight, the cable will come out, and not necessarily on the first few rides. I assume the kid hit the brakes hard and the cable slipped. It happens often, and luckily, one of us or the inspectors generally caught it. Evidently, no one caught this one, and an accident occurred. Deaths have occurred from bicycle crashes, so I do know the dangers.
I prefer to see how the suit comes out. Walmart has the money, so I'd bet on them winning. To be fair to Walmart, I don't think their assemblers have anything to do with putting on the brakes, since most brakes are already attached to the frames when they [Walmart] receive the bikes. If anything, Walmart will have minimal blame.
Where's Ralph Nader when you need him?
I bought a 10 speed from walmart "assembled" a few years back. The brake pads were loose, off the rim and cock-eyed and not adjusted. Nothing I did not know how to fix since I was 7 years old. Buyer beware!
I agree, but most people assume the bikes they buy are safe, which most are. I wouldn't know what to look for, except that I worked at a large bicycle company. I just read an article about a young man winning a $13m lawsuit against Shimano because the cables slipped out of the brakes. He is a paraplagic because of the accident.
We had many meetings at work concerning safety, especially after someone was hurt because of cracked welds, loose spokes, defective brakes, and the likes. All are dangerous. We had a good record, but since most of the bikes are either assembled outside the US or the parts are outsourced outside the US, you don't know what you are getting.
How did Beavers Mom in Colarado find an article by Jeff Bobo in the Times News?
Greetings from Kingsport
I miss my '71 Schwinn Stingray. "Banana" seat. Sissy bars. Ape hanger handlebars. "Slick" rear tire. It was a good ride but it missed one of the family moves sometime in the mid-1980's. I'd grown out of it, but I wish my boys could ride it.
Fortunately, I still have my Schwinn 'Caliente' 10-speed,though it's in mothballs, and needs a complete refurbishment. It's a unique model because the the front sprockets and chain stay in motion all the time, as the freewheel is on the crank, not the rear axle. When I get to it, I'm going to do all I can to restore it to like-new condition with OEM parts.
Wish me luck. LOL!
$150.000.00 in Medical would hardly cover a bad broken leg and therapy. This is all about money.
Oh bunk! Bike shops don't serve an "upscale" market. The shops in my community served everyone on bikes from entry level to absurdly expensive. The one remaining bicycle shope in town stays alive on repairs and replacement parts for models not in stores any longer.
Horse manure!! I've been in MANY bicycle shops in a number of different cities, and their "bread and butter" is the upscale bike market. Sure, they sell a number of other bikes, but the mainstay of business is the serious hobby biker. They don't compete with Sears, Penney and/or WalMart for the kiddy tricycle market.
Disgruntled Wal-Mart hater - that's fresh lol. A guy from the maintenance crew (read floor cleaner) used to assemble the bikes for our local walmart one day a week. Stock boys did it when the maintenance guy wasn't available. And the Stock boys also built the el-cheapo pressboard furniture in the same work area. I assembled a few myself. So what.
I've got 14 years in retail and 4 of them with Walmart. How much time have you spent in the stock area in any Walmart?
Something tells me you couldn't even describe it much less where the bikes get assembled per the routine within a Walmart store. I'll give you a hint, it is close to the office area and across from the employee lounge in the local one.
"When it is time for you or your child to get a bike, go to a professional bicycle shop. There is a huge difference in the quality of the bikes, parts and the service you receive."
I used to sell and assemble bike in the early nineties and the Cost Co. Walmart $150.00 "mountain" bikes were outright dangerous. Kids coaster break bikes were safer.
Typically the box store bike has a soft steel caliper brake rather than cantilevers. I've seen these brakes bend as much as an inch on polished steel rims with zero breaking power when I tested them after a tune up.
In the early nineties I spent for handbuilt wheel than parents spent on bikes for their kids.
For fifty bucks more than they bought their death bikes at a box store I could have sold them a safe bike.
When we tuned box store bikes we would issue a verbal safety disclaimer to the customer in front of witnesses with a written discaimer on the repair receipt to avoid a lawsuit.
Who cares? Seriously. I bought my Huffy from a local bike shop for less than 200 back in highschool. They don't charge through the nose.. never did. Walmart just drove the cost of labor down to sell at the price point they wanted. Keep the worker poor so they can sell to people at lower prices.. That's the game. A little opposite of what Henry Ford's ethic was.
Horse manure is precisely what you're shovelling, sir. One of my Christmas presents from a family member this year was a used bike purchased from our local shoppe. It was assembled from spare parts out of the shoppe's basement with a few "new" items added to make it safe and road worthy.
Perhaps "upscale" may describe your big city version of it. I'm talking small town america - you know, where Walmart has drivin the mom and pop businesses into the ground..
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