Bridge Out!

[billisonboard]

Family sues Google alleging its Maps app led father to drive off collapsed bridge to his death, attorneys say

Besides Google, the family is suing its parent company, Alphabet, and two local companies it claims were responsible for maintaining the land and bridge, along with proper barricades and warning signs, and failed to repair the bridge or put up barricades and hazard warnings. The suit claims negligence and willful and wanton conduct by the companies and seeks an unspecified amount in punitive damages.

I could be persuaded perhaps to assign Google/Alphabet 5 maybe 10% blame for not fixing their map but, really, no barricades? That deserves 90, 95% of the blame. But, you know, deep pockets.

[Tennesseer]

Things which annoy me:  law firm tv ads which represent big money for victims of auto accidents.  The 'victim' in one lawsuit was severely injured and required lengthy rehabilitation.  But 'you' see the alleged victim dancing away in the TV ad.  Injury fraud by claimant and law firm representing them?

Another ad show a couple, after winning their personal injury lawsuit, eating an expensive meal on their new expensive home's grand porch stating "This is the life.". Again - injury fraud by claimant and law firm representing them?

[NoNamePerson]

Sept 23, 2023 10:44:03 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Things which annoy me:  law firm tv ads which represent big money for victims of auto accidents.  The 'victim' in one lawsuit was severely injured and required lengthy rehabilitation.  But 'you' see the alleged victim dancing away in the TV ad.  Injury fraud by claimant and law firm representing them?

Another ad show a couple, after winning their personal injury lawsuit, eating an expensive meal on their new expensive home's grand porch stating "This is the life.". Again - injury fraud by claimant and law firm representing them?

TV LAW Firms period. We have one here that has in his ad "Licensed to Sue" I guess it's true but I have never seen that in any of the ads that 5,000 firms that hawk their trade on TV!! Sleaze Bags of the highest order!!

[toomuchreality]

Sept 21, 2023 11:27:29 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Family sues Google alleging its Maps app led father to drive off collapsed bridge to his death, attorneys say

Besides Google, the family is suing its parent company, Alphabet, and two local companies it claims were responsible for maintaining the land and bridge, along with proper barricades and warning signs, and failed to repair the bridge or put up barricades and hazard warnings. The suit claims negligence and willful and wanton conduct by the companies and seeks an unspecified amount in punitive damages.

I could be persuaded perhaps to assign Google/Alphabet 5 maybe 10% blame for not fixing their map but, really, no barricades? That deserves 90, 95% of the blame. But, you know, deep pockets.

Yeah. I thought the same thing. Sure Google needs to update their maps. But the city/state/who ever, should have put multiple barricades up, as well as signs, indicating this is not a through road. I read that private citizens have placed large boulders there, to try and keep this from happening. But that clearly wasn't enough.
The bridge has been out for a few years. Didn't they have time to block it off?
Oopsie!

[Spellbound454]

 Sleaze Bags of the highest order!!

Yep
It makes for a culture where people don't take responsibility for themselves........ because there is money to be made in blaming someone else.

We frequently have people here following google maps, in large articulated lorries. They end up getting wedged on a narrow country lane, which was never meant for such traffic.

Although in the OP case.

The bridge should have been fenced off if it was in a dangerous state
and that would be the responsibility of the local council.

[djAdvocate]

Sept 30, 2023 2:32:29 GMT -5 Spellbound454 said:

 Sleaze Bags of the highest order!!

Yep
It makes for a culture where people don't take responsibility for themselves........ because there is money to be made in blaming someone else.

We frequently have people here following google maps, in large articulated lorries. They end up getting wedged on a narrow country lane, which was never meant for such traffic.

Although in the OP case.

The bridge should have been fenced off if it was in a dangerous state
and that would be the responsibility of the local council.

i am not sure that this is the part that bothers me the most about it.

i think the part that bothers me the most about it is something that features prominently in Office Space- that somehow, you "have it made" by suing the shit out of someone and winning.  here is how i generally feel about this:

if the someone in question is an absolute scumbag OR is absolutely at fault through supreme negligence, then one has a right to be made "as whole as possible" by the legal system.  but in that situation, generally speaking, being "made whole" is not really possible.  if the criminal conduct results in the death of a person, particularly, or the complete loss of property/livelihood/sanctity in the second case, no amount of five star meals in beautiful places will EVER compensate for it.  

so, portraying this fiction as fact is my problem with it.  attorneys should be SOMBER about their conduct.  they should merely say that if you were harmed, we will do our best to make you whole.  i get that rolling in dough, candlelight dinners in opulence, etc are more "eye catching"- but that is the problem for me, more than the defense of those who have experienced tragic and life altering loss.

so, my tendency is to side with the attorneys that just do their job over the scumbags, and not throw them into the same category.  not sure what the proportions are, but they are probably favorable to my position.

[Spellbound454]

The angle I'm coming at it from is this.

My twelve year old daughter fell off her bike and broke her arm

A couple of weeks later, and with her arm in plaster, she was in the city centre and she was approached by a tout selling.. no win/no fee injury claims.

and told that she could get £10K off the Council. (Of course she was very excited about all this money she was going to get)

When the company phoned later that night... and yes they had taken personal details from a 12 year old.... I went ballistic that they had approached her in this way.

I don't want my kids growing up thinking whenever something happens, its a chance to blame someone else and make money from it.

I don't want to live in a society where people don't take accountability for their own actions.


She fell off her bike...... Who hasn't fallen off a bike?

That's just too bad, she'll have to be more careful in the future.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 30, 2023 10:42:07 GMT -5 Spellbound454 said:

The angle I'm coming at it from is this.

My twelve year old daughter fell off her bike and broke her arm

A couple of weeks later, and with her arm in plaster, she was in the city centre and she was approached by a tout selling.. no win/no fee injury claims.

and told that she could get £10K off the Council. (Of course she was very excited about all this money she was going to get)

When the company phoned later that night... and yes they had taken personal details from a 12 year old.... I went ballistic that they had approached her in this way.

I don't want my kids growing up thinking whenever something happens, its a chance to blame someone else and make money from it.

I don't want to live in a society where people don't take accountability for their own actions.


She fell off her bike...... Who hasn't fallen off a bike?

That's just too bad, she'll have to be more careful in the future.

Falling off a bike and breaking a bone is just a matter of of growing up. I fell off my bike and broke my arm too. But that was around 1960 or so and ambulance chasers (lawyers) were not a thing yet.

I was hit by a car though when I was five. We sued the driver's insurance which paid for my hospitalization. No financial gains though for me.