Dead Teen Sued for Flying Body Parts

[Treblaine]

It is entirely plausible that he had no idea he was stepping out in front of a high speed train, till it was too late.

It apppears that he thought the express train was actually the train he had needed to catch (which, as it turned out, was late with no announcement given). So yeah, he knew it was coming. He probably thought it was stopping, though. Did anyone read the article, or did we all just jump right in and start arguing? A lot of people here seem to be assuming he didn't even notice the train. Admittedly that particular detail is part of the guy's family's lawsuit against the rail company, but it's perfectly feasible (more so, to my mind, than the idea of someone failing to spot a train travelling at 70mph while crossing tracks, but as far as I can gather from this thread, US high-speed trains don't offer the trademark rattling and clanking of UK trains, but instead glide silently like track-bound wraiths).

Look, when I was a wee lad up in Scotland (where the trains are supposedly extra rickety) there were train tracks around our neighbourhood and there was a death once. Now our school drilled it into us emphatically that we CANNOT understand the dangers of trains and that the only safe advice is to never try to cross them, they drilled into us the great expense that went to build bridges and tunnels to safely pass, to save our lives. No excuses.

But that was because we'd been told. I have pity for those who had not been told.

This is my belief (one I take from my father who's tob it is to run bloody oil and gas refineries), that you should take active physical measures to prevent innocent well meaning people from hurting themselves. A warning sign is not an active physical measure, but a fence is. Fences are totally unambiguous that you should not be trying to pass here. And that even if someone really wanted to, they couldn't without much effort, you FORCE them to go round to the safe passing point of a bridge or underpass.

 

[senordesol]

Trains stop at designated areas, travel at a fairly consistent speed, don't leave a predetermined track. There is literally no excuse for getting hit by one and no way to pass the blame.

^THIS^

I ride a train to work every day.

I cannot fathom unless you are blind and deaf (or a drooling, dangerous idiot), how you could possibly end up on the wrong end of one if you are capable of the complex higher reasoning involved in -say- NOT sticking a penny in a power socket.

And if you're pushed?

OT: Some things you do not sue for. Shit happens, deal with it. I broke my foot in school once because someone at the back of the queue was pushed and I received the full brunt of thirty people being knocked forwards. I didn't sue because there was no intention to harm, even if the kid was being reckless, as far as he knew, the only person who was going to get hurt was himself, so he took the risk.

Six weeks of my education inhibited during my first GCSE year because of an accident which was, as far as I was concerened, nobody's fault. This shouldn't be a matter of naming and shaming but one of good will and common sense.

If someone is pushed then that's a totally different situation isn't it? Can you tell the difference between 'shoved onto the tracks' and 'ran across the tracks of own volition'?

 

[Generalissimo]

i'm gonna let yahtzee say it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gFP0Z4g11w

seriously though it's pretty friggin' stupid.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

his family is in mourning ...

Still? It happened in 2008 [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-train-fatality-suit-20111229,0,1641941.story], not last week! The mourning period is officially over, and this is how long it takes for cases like this to surface, some 3-4 years after the event.

...didn't read that part, mostly skimmed the article (as usual).

You gotta admit though, it's still a pretty dick move... I bet it took longer to get over the death then it did the broken bones...

 

[SoetSout]

Many people can see it, its optional to look to your left or right, but body parts torn from another hiting people will actualy cause emotional problems.

sure, it will, but not every tragedy needs to be blamed on someone.

and maybe that's what we need to see this as, a tragedy, something that simply shouldn't have happened, yet it did, shit happens.

if someone dies because of a gruesome accident, people shouldn't haul off with his possessions under claims of trauma just for observing it, what about the guy who lost his life? what about his family?
don't you owe THEM money for not saving the poor sod?

No, because you couldn't help it, and neither could they or anyone else, the only person remotely to blame has payed for his mistake with his life, deal with it.

lol u dont read the article.

Read all of it so you can understand what is going on.

and there is a root cause for Every tragedy except mother nature..
this kid walked onto a train track, A TRAIN TRACK. i have never in my life stood 1 meter away from a train track(never had oppertunity). neither will i ever cause its a small piece of railworks barely 3 meter wide, and il never need to cross one. there are many ways around there are Bridges, tunnels, alternative routes... its not hard. how many signs are there at a train station telling you to keep off the tracks?

this IDIOT ran infront of a fucking train, why cant he just jump of a building rather? or hang himself? cause this was not intended.

he ran without thinking at all, and got hit by a train, now his body parts are launching at people, and are causing serious damage. you need to stop watching movies and learn physics and biology so you can understand that a body part at that speed can be near fatal. imagine it hit hit her on the neck? could have broken the neck, killed her etc. but luckily it didnt.

now the woman has to pay for medical bills, live with an even weaker body then she had before. and you tell me that she should not ask the ROOT of the problem for help?

and the root is.... yea you should have guessed it... the kid.

but he is dead, soo... lets sue his parents?. no u cant, thats not fair.
how about we take his belongings to pay for the medical costs? yea.. but we need to settle this in court still...

Who needs the money more? the parents of the idiot? or the woman nearly killed by his wreckless actions trying to pay for medicine. which lets face it the medical industry is milking people for money


if you have read this whole post till now and still think she should have no right, please go and jump infront of a train, you are an pending empty space for society.

 

[FireAza]

Unless the court plans on resurrecting the kid as a shambling zombie, I'm not sure how this is suppose to play out. In which case, that would explain why so many necromancers work for the courts.