Woman kills cyclist and then sues his family....

[chayton]

Someone told me about this story but I thought it was from the Onion or something, but unfortunately not. Cop's wife, driving over the speed limit, hit three 16 year old kids on bikes. One of them died, another one was in hospital with serious injuries. The parents sued the woman's husband (who owned the car) because they suspect that the woman was either drunk or on the phone. Now the driver is counter-suing the families of the kids for $1.3 million because she says that "They did not apply their brakes properly. They were incompetent bicyclists."

Now from what I read, she hit them from behind, so their lack of braking skills or whatever excuse she's giving is just crap. I can't believe she was able to find a lawyer to plead this case...although I guess the lawyer figures he'll get paid anyhow. But what an awful woman.

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[Casinomeister]

That's gut-wrenching sad. Trying to profit off of the death of a child that you killed. Freakin' ludicrous.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Who is she going to sue now that her callous lawsuit has caused a public stink which will ensure that no matter whether she wins or loses, she will be branded "callous" by society as a whole.

It looks very much like this whole affair was dreamed up by greedy lawyers who saw the chance to make a fortune by turning a straight forward case into a long drawn out and rather complicated legal battle. It's also likely to cause some negative PR for the police department as both husband and wife are cops, and it does seem odd that she was simply taken home by her husband after the incident because the "police believed" she hadn't been drinking.

Here in the UK, police are supposed to take a roadside breath sample after every accident, no matter what they believe. If it can't be done, they will have a blood sample taken at the hospital. Damages would normally be sorted out by the insurance companies, and if there was a court case, it would be a criminal one based on how the accident was caused.

I am thinking her suit is nothing more than a legal response to the family's action over the death of her son. Intended to bully the dead boy's family into dropping the case, or agreeing to an out of court "call it quits" arrangement. If they go ahead, then it would mean the family win $1 million, and then she wins it straight back if she wins her case over them being "incompetent cyclists".

I suspect there is nothing the authorities can do to stop such cases if there are lawyers willing to pursue them, and judges willing to hear them.

It also seems odd that third parties are being sued, even though they were not there at the time.

I thought this was the US, and am a bit surprised to find out it's actually Canada.