artmonkforHOF Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 my mother called me in a panic last night after hearing that her and my father are being sued for a traffic accident they where in about a month ago. They where driving in a neighboring city, and stopped at a 4 way stop sign. another vehicle got to the intersection before them, so my dad let the guy go through as he should since that how 4 way stop signs work. My parents car gets hit from behind, "a sweet old lady" I think was how my mom described her when she first told me the story. Nothing major, little bumper damage, but the police showed up, filled out a report and all damage was settled through insurance, nothing really out of the ordinary when it comes to fender benders. Now they get word that the lady who hit them is trying to sue for $550,000 for "injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident." Now my mother is freaking out all because of this lawsuit. The lawyers who filled the papers for the lady are one of those "have you been hurt in an accident?" advertising lawyers, which makes me nervous, thinking that sham cases like this are this guys bread & butter, so although my parents did nothing wrong, I am worried that this type of lawyer might know how to make a case out of it. Anybody have a similar situation or has been sued by one of those sleazy lawyers? Just want to know if my parents should be concerned with this suit, I would hate to see them loose a big chunk of their savings to pay off some lady with a BS lawsuit. My parents are both retired, worked very hard for what they have and like most other people, saw their portfolio already take a big hit in the past year. They do plan to counter sue to cover legal fees, and I suggested to tack on "mental anguish" as well. This is also starting to piss me off just typing the story. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 So the old lady hit your parents car and is suing them? That doesn't make sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUSkinsFan Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 my mother called me in a panic last night after hearing that her and my father are being sued for a traffic accident they where in about a month ago. They where driving in a neighboring city, and stopped at a 4 way stop sign. another vehicle got to the intersection before them, so my dad let the guy go through as he should since that how 4 way stop signs work. My parents car gets hit from behind, "a sweet old lady" I think was how my mom described her when she first told me the story. Nothing major, little bumper damage, but the police showed up, filled out a report and all damage was settled through insurance, nothing really out of the ordinary when it comes to fender benders. Now they get word that the lady who hit them is trying to sue for $550,000 for "injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident." Now my mother is freaking out all because of this lawsuit. The lawyers who filled the papers for the lady are one of those "have you been hurt in an accident?" advertising lawyers, which makes me nervous, thinking that sham cases like this are this guys bread & butter, so although my parents did nothing wrong, I am worried that this type of lawyer might know how to make a case out of it. Anybody have a similar situation or has been sued by one of those sleazy lawyers? Just want to know if my parents should be concerned with this suit, I would hate to see them loose a big chunk of their savings to pay off some lady with a BS lawsuit. My parents are both retired, worked very hard for what they have and like most other people, saw their portfolio already take a big hit in the past year. They do plan to counter sue to cover legal fees, and I suggested to tack on "mental anguish" as well. This is also starting to piss me off just typing the story. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. I would guess that since there is a police report they should be fine. The report is going to say the other person hit your parents so any injuries sustained are of her own doing.Also, the insurance paperwork will probably come in handy since that will also collaborate what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 I dont know about Canada but in America if the person hits you from behind they are always 100% at fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinInsite Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Wouldn't their insurance cover being sued? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drop Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 She's not gonna get anywhere suing them if she's the one who hit them. At least not in America anyway. Here, you're required to have control of YOUR vehicle at all times. So if YOU rearend someone, it's your fault. I really doubt your parents have anything to worry about, even with it being Canada and all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDaddyShoo Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 If she truly was a "sweet old lady," then I'd be more pissed about that bloodsucking lawyer. The firm will get paid just by filing the papers in court for the suit knowing full well they most likely don't have a case. F-ing scumbags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boofMcboof Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 My co-worker's friend was playing badminton and some lady was walking near the court not paying attention. Needless to say, she got hit and is suing the guy for hitting her in the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmonkforHOF Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 I dont know about Canada but in America if the person hits you from behind they are always 100% at fault. same thing here, and had the lawsuit come in from a "regular lawyer" I would not be concerned, but from "accident lawyer", I just figure he might know some loophole or something, like not having the cop show up to verify the report, or a discrepancy between the insurance paperwork and police report, and sucker my parents into a settlement. I really really hope that is all this lawyer wants is a settlement, because he is in for a world of hurt at the negotiating table. My parents are 2 of the most frugal people I know, and my dad might be the stubbornist man alive. Poppa am4HOF will gladly pay a lawyer $100 million to argue against paying $550,000 he does not believe he owes( he would tehn have to counter sue for lega fees since he doesnt have $100 mil). My dad would not budge an inch on that issue at all, nor should he. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmonkforHOF Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 She's not gonna get anywhere suing them if she's the one who hit them. At least not in America anyway. Here, you're required to have control of YOUR vehicle at all times. So if YOU rearend someone, it's your fault. I really doubt your parents have anything to worry about, even with it being Canada and all. I doubt they have anything to worry about either, but then again there are always those "email cases" like the lady suing a Burger King and winning, for slipping on some iced tea that was on the floor, which she put there after throwing the drink at her boyfriend. Its the scumbag lawyer I'm worried about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#98QBKiller Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 I don't think you have anything to worry about man. If the laws are the same up there and she rammed into the back of your parents car then she's at fault and she should be concerned about a counter-suit for even trying something like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BALLz Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 Do you happened to know whether the police report actually states that she is at fault. Or what the insurance companies have on record. My only thought is that if the officer didn't write her a ticket because he was just being a nice guy then may be the lawyer could spin that some how into she must not have been at fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drop Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 but even if she isn't "at fault" according to the police report, the fact of the matter still is that she hit the OP's parents. There's no denying that, and there's really no way you can legally blame two people, stopped at a stop sign, for getting rearended. It's just not feasible. The fact is, even if your parents were sitting at the stop light for too long, or looked away and didn't go as soon as they could of....she still hit them. Meaning she still lost control of her vehicle, regardless of what your parents were doing. It would be VERY VERY hard to prove that your parents negligence (if any at all) was what CAUSED this accident. OP, i understand your concern, but cases like the McDonald's hot coffee, and the Burger King drink-slip for example, don't have written rules stating that those customers MUST be in control of their cups at all times. There were no laws written to protect those fast food chains from their customers stupidity. There are laws written to protect drivers from other driver's stupidity though. The law clearly states that the woman who hit your parents, was to have control of her vehicle at all times. She did not, which resulted in her hitting your parents. Even if her foot just slipped off the brake and she barely drifted into them, she still did not have her vehicle under control. It's pretty cut and dry, and those other lawsuits are rarities that aren't really comparable to your parent's situation. I understand your concern, but if you're truely worried, then your parents just need to get a lawyer and wait until it goes to a fact finding conference where everyone will sit in a room together and find out that she really has no case whatsoever. She'll walk away from the fact finding conference dropping everything, believe me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmonkforHOF Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 Do you happened to know whether the police report actually states that she is at fault. Or what the insurance companies have on record. My only thought is that if the officer didn't write her a ticket because he was just being a nice guy then may be the lawyer could spin that some how into she must not have been at fault. police report says the lady was at fault and her insurance covered the damage to my parents car. All this seems pretty cut and dry to me, but obviously someone told her she has a case, otherwise she would not have sued. as a side note, my mother who never swears and doesn't even like saying the word "darn" called the once "sweet old lady" a "f****** dumb w**** b****." after being served, which was shocking to here from her, but provides me with a little amusement in the messed up situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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