[beezdotcom]

Advice for the future "Don't run over a pile of leaves"

That's not incredibly practical advice. That's a bit like saying, "you should never put your car in reverse", because somebody once backed over their kid. Remember, the next time you back out of a parking space, it's POSSIBLE that someone could have belly-crawled up behind your wheels without you seeing it, so don't you DARE throw that thing in reverse.

I'm willing to withhold judgement on this guy until I know more about the situation - I've already enumerated a number of scenarios where his actions would be reasonable. Apparently, everyone else would rather just assume he's an idiot. Unfortunately, the article gives so few details as to be virtually useless.

[Protagoras]

I'm willing to withhold judgement on this guy until I know more about the situation - I've already enumerated a number of scenarios where his actions would be reasonable. Apparently, everyone else would rather just assume he's an idiot.

Judgement? Idiot? What possible difference could it make if he was stupid? Or unreasonable? Isn't the price he paid high enough?