The Usa Gets Dafter Every Day!

[Buenchico]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61763333

[wolf63]

I can't get my little brain to comprehend the decision. The US gets stranger and stranger and fekkin' weirder and weirder.

[davebro]

indeed

[William51]

If i caught a cold while on a train should i sue British Rail?.

[Deskdiary]

This could be because the courts grapple with the "use" of a vehicle.

If you look at Dunthorne v Bentley 1999, which is a UK case, a person ran out of fuel, parked their car, ran across the road and caused an accident - the court ruled the accident was caused out her "use" of the car as per S145 of the RTA 1988.

I suspect the US has similar provisions in their equivalent laws, so the reasoning is probably the same - the disease was caught in the "use" of the car.

Both scenarios stretch "use" to breaking point, and I certainly don't get it, or agree with it, but there was a famous UK judge (can't remember his name) who said something along the lines of Tort of negligence is forever changing.

[Buenchico]

As British Rail ceased to exist a quarter of a century ago, William, I think that you might possibly find that it's just a little bit too late to sue them ;-)

However, based upon your suggestion, I'm considering suing the Ford Motor Company for what happened in the back of a Ford Anglia many years ago, resulting in me having to fork out a fortune in child maintenance costs ;-)

[Hopkirk]

The most civilised country in the world?

[Buenchico]

PP: I think what the case really shows is that, irrespective of which side of the Atlantic one might be on, it's never wise to leave a civil law suit undefended!

Hoppy: I can think of several countries that might be in the running for 'the most civilised country in the world' award (such as Sweden, Denmark and France, among others) but I wouldn't even put the USA in the top half of all countries in that respect!

[jno]

if you've been paying premiums for some generous insurance policy that includes "anything bad that happens in a car", I suppose it's fair enough. Presumably the donor of the virus isn't worth suing.

[Canary42]

The winners (as usual) will be the lawyers.

[Old_Geezer]

The whole world is full of the insane. I don't thing it gets dafter, it just shows how daft it is on regular occasions.

[Old_Geezer]

THINK

[aelmpvw]

will we have to declare no std's when insuring our cars?

[ToraToraTora]

MAABOF!

[jno]

aelmpvw, I don't know about Missouri but in some parts of the world it's a criminal offence not to disclose venereal conditions to prospective partners.

[CrapAtCryptics]

That must have been an achievement the back of a Ford Anglia is quite tight.

[aelmpvw]

i know jno but why should the car insurance company be stumping up?

[zebo]

Nothing about the American legal syatem surprises me when it comes to claims for damages. One of my favourites was a woman who sued a supermarket because she had been injured by a child rounding the corner wearing roller boots, the trainers with wheels in the heels. However, the child was her own!

[douglas9401]

The moral of this story is that when buying a used car in the US make sure it's completely clapped out.

[jno]

aelmpvw, I assume it's because what happened was something the woman was insured against. Without access to the wording of her policy I can't be sure what it was, of course, but the court presumably read it through and decided that the policy covered it.