OT Too entirely wierd!

Nope, that's how things are ... I hear stories like that all the time. All the time.

We've become so litigious here ... we sue at the drop of a hat. So not only is the legal/court system clogged with ridiculous lawsuits (since, of course, we have the undeniable right to sue) but also our taxes are affected, our insurance (home AND auto) affected .... it's an epidemic.

Boy, do I have stories ... living so near a government base and bein' married to a government employee ... I really have a few stories that would curl your toes and singe your hair. :/

I honestly hope that the victim ('cause the guy who got hit? Yep, that's what he is - not the driver) sues the bas**rd right back. That is, if the driver was, indeed, at fault. Unfortunately we have plenty of con artists out there who would literally throw themselves in front of a truck to make a "fast buck."

Have fun tonight!! And post pics!! :)

Hugs!! Connie :)

Oh, it is insane alright. And, it appears to be a norm right now. Tons of folks watch court-tv shows, just to witness the insanity (my DH can't stand the stupidity, but I am drawn to them - like watching stupid pet tricks, but with people).

You have to wonder, in this case, just what kind of lawyer would take a case like this, and what possible legal argument could be the 'reasoning' behind this suit. Imagine... "your honor, my client's property was damaged because the defendant failed to remove himself from the crosswalk".

Why am I not surprised that this happened in Erie? You see, I was born and raised there, and still have lots of family there. It seems that I frequently hear strange stories from there......we've all heard about the man who died with a bomb "collar" on, and just this week a woman was sentenced to jail for swinging her baby at her BF, who she was fighting with!!! The poor baby ended up in the hospital, but has recovered. I just wonder if there isn't more to the hit & run story. Please keep us posted!

Maybe the pedestrian wallked out in front of traffic...against a light that said it was Ok to cross ?....You never know.

isnt 'hit and run' illegal there? it is here. here it wouldnt matter if the driver was at fault or not, if he 'ran' that breaks the law and he'd be arrested and charged. that also makes him liable for any damages. surely the judge would throw that case out of court and perhaps even charge the driver for court costs for bringing such a stupid suit and wasting the courts time. what the hell are some folks teaching their kids about what is right and what is wrong.

the other day dh was sitting behind a few cars waiting for traffic to move and this old guy decides he is going to cross the two lanes between cars(not in the nearby crosswalk right in front of dh's van....here if there is a crosswalk within 60ft you must use it, so he was at fault crossing there.

dh looks >

Ack! It's unbelievable, isn't it? My SonIL was sideswiped by a fellow on the freeway a couple of weeks ago. No one was hurt, fortunately, and there were multiple witnesses to say that the other fellow had been driving erratically; the police cited him for DUI. Now this guy is calling SIL's insurance agency almost daily, threatening all sorts of things because he claims SIL *made* him sideswipe him. Huh? He's googled their address and threatens to come over and do who knows what. It's not unique to your area.

The nearest to that I'v heard of in the UK was about 30 years ago when an anti-Nazi protester who'd been arrested and beaten up at a demo was charged with damaging a policeman's boot with his teeth.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

Jeanne, it hasn't gone to court (yet), so I'm pretty sure the judge

*would* throw it out. The phone calls are going to the insurance company, so that's not a problem for DD and DSIL, but the thought that the jerk might show up at their house and do something stupid is a bit of a worry. :S

if i read you right, he found their address on google and made those threats about visiting them to the insurance company? and the insurance company told DD and DSIL about them. the insurance company might record his calls, so many companys now tell you they do when you call, and if they do record them, then they should tell the police. i'd be asking them if they intend to do that?

if they wont i'd call the police and tell them about the recorded threats then your DD and DSIL should call and tell the police that the threats have been recorded by the insurance company. geez, the insurance company might not give a damn about threats to you but i sure would if it were me. i would definitely be worried about threats like that.

i thot threats of visits to your home and possible violence would be against the law and the police ought to take notice and do something about it. this drunk has big problems with his level of civility and sometimes the only way folks like that get help is when the authoritys step in and do something about it. ok, maybe thats just me and how i'd deal with it but i would not ignore threats to home and person. if they have kids i'd also worry they'd bother the kids on the way to or from school. j.

"Assault" is violence, or a threat of violence, against a person, or indeed even verbally. At least in Scotland/UK.

-- Jo in Scotland

Nah. One of the reasons Our man on the scene took notice of the guy who got hit was because he was reminded of me and how I would make a production of waiting for the walk signal when teaching DD3 about crossing the street. So he was looking at the poor man and thinking "Yup, he would get jelly beans from Ma.", when the car slammed into the fellow.

Of course if the guy had followed the herd and not waited for the walk light he probably would not have been hit. Can't win for trying I guess.

NightMist

It counts as Threatening Behaviour, and is a criminal offence.

Right.

That is exactly what is happening at this point. The nut job I've been talking about has even threatened (if this isn't nuts, I don't know what is!) to arrest DSIL on felony charges for giving the wrong address at the scene of the accident! (1) The policeman inadvertently wrote down the wrong address because he neglected to look at the back of DSIL's license to see the change there. (2) A "regular" citizen can't charge anyone with a felony; it has to be the police. The insurance company is flabbergasted at this fellow. I don't blame them -- I am, too.

"nzlstar*" wrote: