Stupid American Lawsuit of the Day
We're used to hearing of ridiculous lawsuits from the land of a far too many lawyers. Now, a Californian tries to sue himself
Curtis Gokey was understandably furious when a lorry belonging to the city of Lodi, California, backed into his pickup truck last month, causing damage estimated at $3,600 (�2,000) - although he was the one driving the lorry. Mr Gokey, a 51-year-old employee of the local public works department, filed a lawsuit demanding that the city pay for the repairs.
I think it's time for Dick Cheney to shoot a few more lawyers...
Posted by TimHall at March 18, 2006 05:42 PM | TrackBackI'm not sure that's *quite* as weird as it sounds... if, for instance, I backed my pickup truck into our car, insurance would cover it (the car, but not the truck, because we don't carry full coverage on this truck because for $3600 we could buy two, maybe three of them), albeit with a largish deductible. And then my rates would go up, for being stupid. (This did, as a matter of fact, happen to my dad once. He backed one car out of the garage forgetting the other was in the driveway, and locked the rear quarter panels together.)
What I would expect to have happen is that the city's coverage would pay for the pickup's damage, same as it would if he'd hit a stranger's pickup. And then the city's rates would go up, and they'd (probably) fire him for being stupid.
OTOH, every state has different insurance laws, and California is (famously) the most different of all, so all bets are probably off when trying to guess at the real story. Or if they think he did it on purpose, that changes everything.
See, the (only?) problem with shooting lawyers is that they're the insurance companies' only natural predator.