20 December 2008

Don't Help Me Or I Will Sue!!!

What is this world coming to? The California Supreme Court said Thursday that a woman who rescued her co-worker from her crashed vehicle can be sued because the care she rendered wasn’t medical. Their reasoning for this is that according to the Supreme Court rescue efforts are the responsibility of trained professionals and not civilian bystanders.

Here is what happened; Lisa Torti and Alexandra Van Horn were department store cosmeticians who attended a Halloween Party in 2004. Evidently they left the party in separate cars and Van Horn’s car ran into a light pole at 45 mph. Torti, in her court testimony, said she saw smoke and liquid coming from Van Horn’s car and was worried the car was going to explode. So, what did she do? She pulled her co-worker from the wrecked car and most likely saved her life; except for the fact that Van Horn claims she was rendered a paraplegic because Lisa Torti “treated her like a rag doll” when pulling her from the car. Van Horn sued and the California Supreme Court says she can sue. All I can ask is what in the hell are they thinking?

You would think this was a one-time occurrence but you would be wrong. In 1997 truck driver Bob Tucknott was driving a semi full of U.S. bulk mail from Forest Park, Illinois to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Interstate 94 when Laura Spero's car collided with the trailer. Spero’s car became stuck under the trailer and caught fire. Tucknott stopped the truck and helped Spero and her 4-year-old son, Cody, out of the burning car. Laura Spero decided to sue Bob Tucknott for damages. Again, all I can ask is what in the hell was she thinking?

I started to research the phenomena of people suing the Good Samaritans that helped them and had to stop; the list is endless! In Los Angeles two guys rescued a pregnant woman from her burning car following an accident; they were sued by another woman who claims they ignored her cries for help to help the pregnant woman! There are so many stories I have found on this topic I can’t even list them all! So, the only conclusion I can come up with is that even though states have enacted all kinds of laws to protect Good Samaritans there will always be some slimeball personal injury attorney looking for a quick buck who will sue.

I can’t even imagine the gall it takes to file a lawsuit against someone who acted to save my life. On the other hand I can no longer imagine any situation where I would lift a finger to help someone in an emergency, would you if you thought that person could sue you? People bemoan the downfall of our society and wonder who or what is to blame; they can start by blaming the personal injury attorneys, in my opinion.

2 comments:

  1. I was going to blog about this actually. I mean, come on! I'm sorry this person was hurt, I'm sorry now she's living a different lifestyle, but if I read this correctly (and the other articles I read on it this afternoon) she was the one who ran into a lightpole! She was at fault and the accident was most likely the cause of her being a paraplegic! NOT THE WOMAN WHO PULLED HER OUT! GOD NEVER GIVES US MORE THAN WE NEED OR ALLOW THINGS TO HAPPEN TO UNLESS HE WANTS US CLOSER TO HIM! These kinds of people need to go to that special hell they talked about on Firefly!

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  2. That's absolutely ridiculous, and I'm not at all surprised that it's Kaliforny where it's taking place! That's why Virginia has a "Good Samaritan" law - this is a law which specifically states you CANNOT sue a rescuer for damages of any kind, no matter what.

    Stories like this make you wonder just what Kaliforny and the world are coming to.....

    As we say in the military, "What the f*ck, over?"

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