Pathetic Lawsuit

[Jom112]

By now I'm sure you've all heard of Josh Hancock the Cardinals pitcher who died while drinking and driving. What was originally a story about a relatively young man dying way too early because of mistakes he made has quickly turned into a story about a man dying and everyone else being blamed for it.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/05/24/hancock.lawsuit.ap/index.html?cnn=yes
His father not only wants to sue the restaurant that served him the drinks, but also the driver of the car that stalled on the highway and the tow truck driver that tried to help the stalled driver.
Josh Hancock was a 29 year old man that should have know his own limits. Additionally he was talking on a cell phone, not wearing a seatbelt and might have been "high" during the time of the accident.
I've heard of placing blame elsewhere but this is pathetic...

[jamiethelanky]

Hopefully sense will prevail. Hancock made a lot of mistakes and it's a shame he died; but it was entirely his fault.

[biggie]

I can understand that his father is upset. In no way should any other person be responsible for the choices he made. I hope that he calms down and realizes that this is a silly way to remember his son. He should try to remember the good times and not the bad choice that he made.

[Turk88]

I agree that the lawsuit is a little ridiculous...now having said that..I worked in bars for 13 years and as almost anyone knows, it is your job to make sure your patrons do not overindulge and to ensure they leave your property safely. I have no a few bartenders that have been sued for over serving someone when that person goes out and wrecks their car. I also am aware of a club owner that got in trouble for not having adequate security. The argument was that security should have noticed the intoxicated person, notified the bartender to cut him off, and then made sure he left the property safely. They did cut him off but they saw him leave in his own car by himself.
It is a fine line to walk since we all need to know our own limits but at the same time bartenders need to serve responsibly.

[Danno]

This is sad, and what is more sad you are seeing more and more of these kinds of lawsuits. I am pretty sure this has everything to do with money, because the real responsibility is on his son.Now the guy HAS a case against the bar, because, as turk said, they sort of have a responsibility not to overserve. So I could see that.that being said, he has NO grounds to sue the tow truck driver and the stalled driver. I can't even imagine a world where i was clipped and spun out on the internet, and then sued for that. Or better yet, you see someone in trouble on the side of the road,and decide to stop and help. THen someone, a very very drunk someone, smashes into your vehicle. Then being sued for that.These two were doing NOTHING wrong, and he wants to sue them for it? HIS SON WAS TWICE THE LEGAL LIMIT.How crazy has this country become? I might consider moving if he wins this case, because it will officially be unsafe to do anything without getting sued. this is probably 10X worse than the infamous hot coffee lawsuit.

[schamrock bengal]

This is sad, and what is more sad you are seeing more and more of these kinds of lawsuits. I am pretty sure this has everything to do with money, because the real responsibility is on his son. Now the guy HAS a case against the bar, because, as turk said, they sort of have a responsibility not to overserve. So I could see that. that being said, he has NO grounds to sue the tow truck driver and the stalled driver. I can't even imagine a world where i was clipped and spun out on the internet, and then sued for that. Or better yet, you see someone in trouble on the side of the road,and decide to stop and help. THen someone, a very very drunk someone, smashes into your vehicle. Then being sued for that. These two were doing NOTHING wrong, and he wants to sue them for it? HIS SON WAS TWICE THE LEGAL LIMIT. How crazy has this country become? I might consider moving if he wins this case, because it will officially be unsafe to do anything without getting sued. this is probably 10X worse than the infamous hot coffee lawsuit.
Yeah, they did nothing wrong, but unfortunately, that's not the point. I've gotten sued before regarding an auto accident and was dimissed from it later since I was rear-ended. In any liability lawsuit, you name everyone you possibly can and have the courts work out the extent of liability. The odds are the tow truck driver and the stalled driver will eventually be dismissed from the case.

[Jom112]

My big problem with this lawsuit is that the father seems to be going after everyone. It's one thing to investigate what happened at the Bar. Bars do have some responsibility to stop giving alcohol to a guy that is completly smashed. But to go after the stalled car driver and the tow truck driver seems a little much...

[Danno]

... But to go after the stalled car driver and the tow truck driver seems a little much...
exactly

[oasiswr]

Well since I heard a story from a co- worker once on why he has to work like 70 hours a week I'm not surprised by anyone's greed to make a fast buck off dead relatives.

Story goes like this; one year during Xmas or Thanksgiving a family of three at the time with one bun in oven. Upon leaving the Grandparent's house they backed out of the driveway on a rather dangerous curve road. Now around that curve was a speeding semi that plowed into the SUV killing the entire occupates of the vehicle leaving a very cold holiday eve indeed.

A couple months later the Grandparent's on the husband's side gains sole ownership of the family in question assets including house. So that leaves the family of the wife ticked off forcing them to petition for a wrongful death case. In which case results in the Grand parent not only having to feel sorrow for losing his only son and grandchildren he must also pay good lawyers money to keep those greedy in-laws from taking his house also.

So apparently the cost of a family of three with one on the way is worth around 200,000 dollars or slightly more. Sad huh? A lawyer making money off clients dead relatives from a tragic accident. (Blood money)