Posted on 07/06/2006 2:01:19 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The last line of the story pretty much blows the whole case. How do you argue that the scheme was inherently dangerous if it operated 15 years without incident?
This was just the old 'deep pockets' routine again. The plaintiffs apparently didn't realize that Santa Monica isn't as big a push-over as Los Angeles is.
Who writes these headlines?
The court system is unpredictable though . . .
They should set their 'sites' on avoiding 'market crashes'!
Wearing your 'understatement' hat today, I see.
Wait til the 9th circus gets this case.
We followed this case carefully on FR. It was no one's fault, but the unremorseful old codger who ran those poor people down. If he had been 16 they would have hung him.
The State of California should be held liable for letting that old guy drive.
Somebody might point out that governments can't declare bankruptcy either. Orange county did at one time! So it it's OK to declare bankruptcy then the immunity from lawsuits might be severed too?
I seem to remember hearing somewhere that tort judgments in personal injury cases are NOT expunged by bankruptcy.
As a Santa Monica resident and taxpayer, I'm pleased.
Had the old geezer, who had no business driving at all, used the brake instead of the accelerator, fewer people would have been killed.
But since he had shallow pockets and the city big ones, guess who gets sued.
Give me a loser pay system.
The accident I was involved in 2 wks ago was caused by an elderly man. He turned left in front of an oncoming car, and they both smashed into me sitting still. Shall I sue the state where the man was licensed (Ohio in this case)? I think so! The taxpayers of Ohio should pay!! /sarc
Ben -- it was 50th E and Ave M. The CHP on scene said they wouldn't be surprised to see the intersection change to include a stop light (or 3-way signs at minimum). It guess it's not an uncommon occurrance there, unfortunately.
You can talk to the local city or county (if that is anunincorporated area in the County) traffic engineers. They will have an accident history for that location using the Statewide Integrated Traffic Reporting System (SWTRS) which can then be compared against AASHTO or Caltrans standards to see if it 'meets warrant" for a traffic signal based upon accident history.
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