Posted on 07/27/2005 11:42:57 AM PDT by Stevieboy
Lawsuit in sledding tragedy
Family of crash victim launches $255G action against City of Gatineau, claiming hill was unsafe
THE FAMILY of a 12-year-old Gatineau boy who died in a sledding accident last winter has launched a lawsuit against the City of Gatineau in the hope that no one else will have to experience what they have lived through.
"It hurts so much when the doctor is telling you that your son is dead following an activity like that, so I don't want no one else to live it," said Francois Lessard, whose son Simon died as a result of head trauma he received after hitting a tree while sledding with a friend on Feb. 5 at Lemoyne Park.
The family is asking for $255,000 -- $100,000 each for both Francois and his wife, France, $25,000 for their daughter, Nathalie, and another $30,000 for pain, suffering and funeral expenses.
TREES DANGEROUS
"We're not doing it for the money, we're doing it for our son," said Lessard.
(Excerpt) Read more at ottawasun.com ...
But for some strange reason I doubt that will happen.
We SHOULD ban snowmobing, I don't know anybody who has anything positive to say about it.
Great. Now we'll see kids wearing helmets as they sled. Fellas, how the hell did we make it this far in our lives without killing ourselves?
Clearly, we just need to cut down all the trees. They create a patently unsafe environment, no matter where they're growing. And if it'll save just one life, then it'll be worth it. It's for the children, after all.
Good eye. I think I'll go buy snowbobing.com right now. It has a ring!
I don't know anybody who's ever said anything about "snowmobing," positive or negative...but I'll take your advice. Next time someone wants me to go out and snowmobe, I'll "just say NO."
Does that make me a snowmobaphobe?
"We're not doing it for the money, we're doing it for our son," said Lessard.
{sigh}
I see their point. If that tree had been planted 3 feet in any direction instead of where it was, this tragedy would never have happened. (sarc)
BAN SLEDDING! "If it saves just one child..."
Well this is going to confuse the George W. Bush haters.
He is supposedly trying to rid the world of trees so they can't pin this one on him!
Well, I went and read the whole article and I still don't quite follow what excatly they're suing for - $100,000 each for mother and father and $25,000 for their daughter, but for what?
In any case, their claim that the city is somehow at fault for having trees on this hill is ridiculous - if anything it is obviously the responsibility of those going sledding, or their parents in this case, to choose a venue for sledding without any solid ojbects in the way that they might run into. AND, the city had signs posted that the hill was not meant for tobogganing.
When I lived in the Ottawa area years ago, I always felt that sledding was a dangerous sport, having broken both my arms on two different occasions. For that reason, I stuck to the sport we called "bunking," which required slick streets, a pair of ice skates, and a tolerant motorist, to whose car we would hang on as we were dragged all over the neighborhood.
None of those pesky trees to get in the way.
Don't forget that the global warming he is causing will prevent all such accidents.
No snow, no sledding accidents.
Isn't it about time that we all accepted resposibility for our own actions and not blame everyone else.
The only way to stop these lawsuits is for them to start turning around and counter-suing. It was up to the parents to make the initial determination of the safety of the area. If they had concerns, the son wouldn't have been there.
My dad once offered to take me sledding behind his car at dusk because it took all day to find my sled and polish the runners. (I thought he was out of his mind and told him I could afford to wait until tomorrow. What was he thinking?)
You're joking, right?
First, this was an article about sledding, not snomobiling. Second if you haven't found anybody with something positive to say about snowmobiling, you're not trying very hard.
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