Justice?

[lapslf]

I hear a lot of strange stories about the US court system. Here's a few:

A man was driving in his camper. He put on cruise control and went to the back of his camper to drink a cup of coffee. Of course, the camper drove off the road and crashed. The man thought cruise control meant the camper would drive all on it's own. He sued the camper company.

A woman had washed her cat and wanted to dry him quickly, so she put him in the microwave. Of course, this killed the cat. The womand sued the microwave company.

Another woman had bought a cup of coffee, drove her car and held the coffee between her legs. She spilled coffee and got burning wounds. She sued the company and got millions.

These story's I just heard, so I can't guarantee their truth. However, my girlfriend's dad is a lawyer, and during his study he was in the US, and they tested him for jury member. They gave him the following scenario:
A person's drawers is stuck. He uses a can opener to break open the drawer. The can opener breaks and he gets hit in the face by a piece of the can opener. Should he get money from the can opener company?
"of course not", was his answer. They thought he was very much on the side of the defended because of this. So this means the person in this scenario would have a pretty good chance of actually getting that money.

Also, I was on vacation in California once, with my parents. My mom wanted to take a picture, and to get a good shot, she wanted to stand on a certain bridge. She asked the owner of the bridge if she was allowed to stand there for a moment, he said no, because he was afraid she would slip and sue him.

Now, I want to ask you all, isn't this all a bit.... odd? All these story's point out, that in the US you can sue people for your own damn mistakes. Is that justice?

[specimen56]

That is not justice. That is the state of the world. People are so caught up in their greed that they'll do anything for some extra money, especially when it means they don't have to do anything except be an idiot.

[antiklaus]

At 8/30/04 06:29 AM, Veggiemeal wrote: I hear a lot of strange stories about the US court system. Here's a few:

A man was driving in his camper. He put on cruise control and went to the back of his camper to drink a cup of coffee. Of course, the camper drove off the road and crashed. The man thought cruise control meant the camper would drive all on it's own. He sued the camper company.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/cruise.asp

more than likely an urban legend. The guy guilty of perpetuating this one won an award...

A woman had washed her cat and wanted to dry him quickly, so she put him in the microwave. Of course, this killed the cat. The womand sued the microwave company.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/techno/micropet.htm

urban legend. Isn't snopes great. that's www.snopes.com

Another woman had bought a cup of coffee, drove her car and held the coffee between her legs. She spilled coffee and got burning wounds. She sued the company and got millions.

actually, that one happened:
http://www.cooter-ulen.com/tort_liability.htm
After the spill, Liebeck spent seven days in the hospital and three weeks recuperating at home with her daughter in attendance. This was followed by skin grafts. During this period, she lost 20 pounds—to 83 pounds—almost 20% of her body weight.

Liebeck wrote to McDonald’s and asked them to turn down the coffee temperature, which was set at 170 degrees. She also asked for her out-of-pocket medical expenses of about $2,000 plus the lost wages of her daughter. McDonald’s offered $800. She sued, asking for no less than $100,000 in compensatory damages, including pain and suffering, and triple punitive damages.

Nothing too frivolous about that suit though... she was scarred beyond recognition and could have died.

Now, I want to ask you all, isn't this all a bit.... odd? All these story's point out, that in the US you can sue people for your own damn mistakes. Is that justice?

Actually most of these stories point out that you are gullible to listen to urban legends. And in the case of the coffee, if you read the link I posted, the woman wasn't asking for anything more than she deserved.

The last case scenario is similar to many of the posers on the link I posted you. They are training scenarios for lawyers. And guess what? Lawyers are here to protect us from the vaguaries of law. There are so many laws, not even lawyers can possibly stand a chance in hell of even possibly knowing them all.

But should we be protected from our own stupidity?

For cripes sake YES! Not everyone here has the same level of education or the same backgrounds.

Some are illiterate. Either due to youth or lack of education.

Could you blame an illiterate person for sticking their hand into a dangerously placed jar full of razorblades, just because it was labeled "Do not stick your hand in"

Some people are from culture's not like america's. It is not common knowledge in every corner of the world what a can opener does... so their should be enough features built in to your electric can opener keep your visiting Nigerian friend, or your 2 year old daughter from chopping their fingers off.

What really is sick is when big corporations use lawsuits to avoid responsibility... but that's a different topic for another time.

[Inglor]

Oh! i've hreard a far worse one and I know it's true...

a burgler breaks into a house and gets stuck in the garage, he lives of bugs for 3 days untill the owner of the house returns, he sues the owner of the house and gets 100000$