NYC Judge declares 4-year-old can be sued.

[UberMario]

Source

"She might have been too young for grade school, but a judge says a New York City girl was old enough to be sued over a bicycle accident that happened when she was 4.

A Manhattan judge refused earlier this month to toss out negligence claims against Juliet Breitman. She, her mother and others are being sued by the estate of a woman who said she was severely hurt when hit by bicycles that Juliet and a boy were racing down a sidewalk in April 2009.

The woman, Claire Menagh, died later that year.

Juliet was three months shy of 5. The judge says there's no evidence a child of that age couldn't appreciate "the danger of riding a bicycle into an elderly woman."

Lawyers for those involved didn't immediately return calls Friday night."

What is this I don't even . . . . . . .

 

[Grandeza]

Oh yes i heard about this. This is a big problem with our country. Everyone is ready to sue over anything. A four year old accidentally hurt an old woman. I mean c'mon. You're going to sue for that? I just think it's so ridiculous.

 

[Pluvia]

Even though I should have like a million jokes running through my head, I can't seem to think of any as this story is already rather absurd.

 

[Luigitoilet]

This is like something you'd see in a dystopian future movie, like Idiocracy or something.

 

[o-Serin-o]

Someone tripped me in school and I broke my arm. I'mma sue! >:L

 

[RATED]

What the ****! I can't facepalm more

 

[Life]

And grown women should be able to appreciate the dangers of spilling hot McDonald's coffee upon themselves. Precedent fail?

 

[#HBC | Dark Horse]

The economy hurt us all. No reason to spazz out.

 

[Mota]

I wonder how much money a 4 year old would have.

 

[Mic_128]

Two jellybeans and a lolly pop.


This is ridiculous.

"The judge says there's no evidence a child of that age couldn't appreciate "the danger of riding a bicycle into an elderly woman."

What about the evidence that a woman of that age should have seen them coming and moved out of the way?

 

[GunmasterLombardi]

The idea of sueing a little girl in general is unacceptable.

 

[Grandeza]

This is ridiculous.

"The judge says there's no evidence a child of that age couldn't appreciate "the danger of riding a bicycle into an elderly woman."

What about the evidence that a woman of that age should have seen them coming and moved out of the way?

I mean even if she didn't see the kid who cares? It's just a kid. So you get knocked over. I mean really just get up and dust yourself off. Suing over this, especially suing a child, is insane.

 

[Today]

She's a kid... four years old at that... not even in kindergarten. Mistakes happen. The situation is very sad, but suing a child for something like that is a bit crazy. It'll be something over her head her entire life.

 

[El Nino]

I wonder if the woman's death was related to being struck by the bike. The article didn't specify.

What about the evidence that a woman of that age should have seen them coming and moved out of the way?

Well, in her defense, mobility decreases significantly with age. Few old people are "springy." If her fall caused her to break a hip or something, that would be considered a severe injury because a lot of elderly patients don't recover from hip injuries or broken bones.

But I'm still confused on why the lawsuit is targeting the four year old rather than her parents or guardians.

 

[DTP]

LOOOOOOOL




Why sue her? Why not just give her a prison sentence?
But really, this doesn't surprise me much.

 

[Mic_128]

Well, in her defense, mobility decreases significantly with age. Few old people are "springy."

In the kids defence, mobility increases with age. Few young children are agile.

 

[Pikaville]

This the up there with the stupidest things I have ever heard.

The judge has to worship satan or be on crackacid to hand a sentence to a 4 year old.

and yes I said crackacid.

 

[global-wolf]

This is one of the strangest things I've ever heard....

 

[th3kuzinator]

People sue over everything in this country.

One of the many things that tick me off.

 

[El Nino]

In the kids defence, mobility increases with age. Few young children are agile.

So that makes this incident not unlike a collision between two asteroid bodies in outer space in that the outcome was not preventable due to the laws of physics and the limits of human capability?

I guess the real question is where were her parents at the time, and how is this lawsuit going to benefit anyone?

Edit: Just realized that the girl's mother was also named in the lawsuit, meaning that the title of the article is a little misleading. I'm guessing they sued a group of people, of which the girl was a part. The girl's family probably tried to fight it to keep her name off the list. From a legal standpoint though, if there isn't a law that specifically sets an age restriction on a lawsuit, the plaintiffs still have grounds to do it, I guess, although I don't know how it benefits anyone, and the article doesn't say much. But I'd guess that if the woman's death was related to the accident, maybe the victim's family has a lot of medical bills to pay off, so they're suing the family of the little girl responsible, including the girl herself. That's the only explanation I can think of, anyway.

 

[Suntan Luigi]

Too bad. Because in Soviet Russia four-year old girl sues you!! :grizzly:

 

[Claire Diviner]

I've read about this on Yahoo News a few days back.

Really? Sue a 4-year-old girl? Sue her for what, whatever few Barbie® dolls she owns?! Seriously, it's not even the woman sueing the child that upsets me, but the judge who actually went along and opened the case that really brings my piss to a boil! It's things like this that destroys my faith in society.

 

[Ryu Shimazu]

Give me all your dolls, all your candy, all your farmville toys on Facebook, THEY'RE MINE MINE MINE.


Seriously, this is lulz.

 

[Namaste]

And grown women should be able to appreciate the dangers of spilling hot McDonald's coffee upon themselves. Precedent fail?

That coffee was actually just below boiling point, she got third degree burns and even if she had drank the coffee it'd of just burned the insides of her mouth out

 

[El Nino]

That coffee was actually just below boiling point, she got third degree burns and even if she had drank the coffee it'd of just burned the insides of her mouth out

A friend of mine once spilled hot coffee in his lap.

He was free ballin' it that day.

Bad burns are bad.

 

[Laem]

I personally wait for hot drinks to cool off, idk 'bout you guys.

suing 4 year olds for the freaking win.

 

[victra♥]

lmfaooooooooooooooooo. man america is hilarious. I feel so bad for that poor girl though but my goodness. If I was there I'd spit on that old woman's grave.