Un fucking real.

If only we could put people in jail for not maintaining safe separation distances.

If you tailgate a trailer, you just begging to get hurt. There is no such thing as a secure load.

Yeah but look.

Maria Before:



Maria After:



I can certainly understand her being pissed off.  I mean she almost died.

However I think her anger is aimed at the wrong people.

Quoted: Yeah but look. Maria Before: s92443876.onlinehome.us/MT/keelhauling/archives/archives/mariafederici.jpg Maria After: images.ibsys.com/2006/0413/8674621_240X180.jpg I can certainly understand her being pissed off.  I mean she almost died. However I think her anger is aimed at the wrong people.

Her anger is aimed by lawyers squarely at the deepest pockets.

I agree, it's a damn tragedy. Insurance should cover this. U Haul gives their clients plenty of warning.

Perhaps she read this site.

This world is a dangerous place, everybody that has lived here has died sooner or later, accidents happen, they are unforetunate and sometimes preventable but no one is gauranteed health and safety here.

The world does not owe anyone special favors or treatment, accidents happen and people suffer, welcome to planet earth.

Quoted: Yeah but look. Maria Before: Maria After: I can certainly understand her being pissed off.  I mean she almost died. However I think her anger is aimed at the wrong people.

WTF does she care????? It's not like she can see herself in a mirror.

Shit like this is so clearly the civil litigation of a frivolous lawsuit, fer Chrissake, it's Darwinism yet again setting a new standard for case law.

Quoted: Un fucking real. If only we could put people in jail for not maintaining safe separation distances. If you tailgate a trailer, you just begging to get hurt. There is no such thing as a secure load.

+1

Quoted: I agree, it's a damn tragedy. Insurance should cover this. U Haul gives their clients plenty of warning.

I agree-
Last thing I want is some fat, old, retired, smelly fucking Warrant officer giving me a 30 minute "Safety Briefing" when I try to rent a car dolly or trailer.

I get waaay to much of that as it is....

Quoted: Un fucking real. If only we could put people in jail for not maintaining safe separation distances. If you tailgate a trailer, you just begging to get hurt. There is no such thing as a secure load.

My wife's car was struck by a couch that flew out of the back of an oncoming pickup truck on HWY 9. She and my daughter were extremely fortunate that by the time of impact it had dropped enough to only shred the bumper, hood, fenders, and front tires instead of coming through the windshield.

For all we know this lady was maintaining a safe following distance or maybe she was in the next lane.

I can agree that there is no such thing as a truly secured load, but there are definitely some fucktards out there with dangerously unsecure loads that should not be allowed on the road.

Quoted: This world is a dangerous place, everybody that has lived here has died sooner or later, accidents happen, they are unforetunate and sometimes preventable but no one is gauranteed health and safety here. The world does not owe anyone special favors or treatment, accidents happen and people suffer, welcome to planet earth.

True, but if incidents occur due to carelessness or negligence then there should be both civil and criminal consequences for the offending party.

Quoted: welcome to planet earth.

I'd like to go home now.

no no no........its Caterpillar's fault........:D

U-haul is the worst but this is not their fault. Gee, does this mean we'll start seeing suits against distillers and automobile manufacturers for drunk driving? That's the same logic at work on the gun suits. Oh wait, I forgot, guns just "go off for no reason". The finger in the trigger has nothing to do with it.

What I dont get is this law called gravity?  Where does common sense come into play are some people so dumb to think that a unsecured load cant/wont fly out?  Fuck if it were a commerical truck theyd have his balls (the driver) for not securing the load.  While were at it lets sue the vehicle manufacturer for pulling the load, and the tire company for a tire that allowed the vehicle to move?  When does it end?  I do feel sorry for her but shit someday people have to be resposible for THEIR actions its not everyone elses fault but mine, thats childhood play ground mentality.

Quoted: U-haul is the worst but this is not their fault.

+1.  They did not put anything in that trailer.

There is such a thing as a secure load.  One that gets from it's origination to it's destination without any problems.  When I was a truck driver, my company was ultimately responsible, I was their employee.  Unless it was a U-Haul employee driving the vehicle, or the load fell off due to faulty equipment, than she should only be able to go after the driver of the vehicle.  I hope a judge or jury sees it this way.

Quoted: What I dont get is this law called gravity?  Where does common sense come into play are some people so dumb to think that a unsecured load cant/wont fly out?  Fuck if it were a commerical truck theyd have his balls (the driver) for not securing the load.  While were at it lets sue the vehicle manufacturer for pulling the load, and the tire company for a tire that allowed the vehicle to move?  When does it end?  I do feel sorry for her but shit someday people have to be resposible for THEIR actions its not everyone elses fault but mine, thats childhood play ground mentality.

I agree.  If she feels the need to sue someone then it should be the people who loaded the truck and drove it down the road.  Not the rental company.

People are too sue happy these days.

I'm sure it comes down to the driver had shit for Liability insurance, while U-Haul will probably end up settling to make her lawyers go away.  Sometimes it sucks to be the deep pockets..

Quoted: Look at it this way: The driver probably had the state minimum or no insurance, so at most she may get a $50,000 to $100,000 settlement from the insurance company. If she sues the individual she will get nothing, because once a judgment has been reached the driver will file bankruptcy. U-haul probaly has a 1 million dollar liabilty policy (hence the 1million lawsuit).

+1 Fishing for the out of court settlement most likely. Wonder if U-Haul or the insurer will figure its better to cut and run? Its not like its going to affect their buiness anymore negatively than their standard business practices do.

Quoted: Look at it this way: The driver probably had the state minimum or no insurance, so at most she may get a $50,000 to $100,000 settlement from the insurance company. If she sues the individual she will get nothing, because once a judgment has been reached the driver will file bankruptcy. U-haul probaly has a 1 million dollar liabilty policy (hence the 1million lawsuit).

So you agree that U-Haul should be sued?...

I say we ban particle board furniture!

Here is an old article on this. It is a sad story, but U-Haul is definitely not responsible.

seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/168700_robert12.html

Quoted: I say we ban particle board furniture!

That's a good start!

About ten years ago, I was riding my motorcycle across the 520 bridge, heading for my shitty job on the East side of the lake.  I was riding in the left lane, and a landscaper's pick up was tooling along in the right.  

I was moving faster than he was, and as I drew near him, an empty Rubbermaid ® 35 gallon trash can blew loose from the back of the truck.  It tumbled up in the air, end over end, and then landed, open side down, about four feet to the right of me and my bike.  If I'd been a little more to the right, if the can had flown a little further, it could have landed right on me.  I would've been riding my motorcycle at 65, on a bridge, wearing a trash can.

A few months ago, I was driving my truck down to Portland, through heavy traffic.  I saw traffic slowing and weaving ahead of me, and was startled to see an entire bedliner, sitting on I-5, between lanes three and four.

A few weeks ago, a piece of gravel fell out of the back of a dump truck, several car lengths ahead of me on the highway, and struck my windshield.  Now there's a crack, slowly spreading across it.

I bring up these incidents to point out that, as others have suggested, shit happens.  Driving down the road is all safe and fun up until the point it's not, and you're about to die.  I feel terrible for that woman - she has to suffer 'cause some fucking idiot didn't secure their load properly.  But it is emphatically not U-Haul's fault.  They're just the ones with money.

It might be problematic from a legal stanpoint, but how 'bout handing the woman a baby sledge and a pair of needlenose pliers, and letting her take a million dollars out of the hide of whoever loaded the trailer?

But I guess we don't do that, because we're civilized.  Hooray.

If she hasn't settled with the renter and intends to take him and U-Haul both to court, U-Haul will likely try to settle out of court, and they'd probably be smart to do so.  In our state, joint and several liability applies in cases where the jury finds the plaintiff to be fault-free.

"Joint and several liability is a form of liability that is used in civil cases where two or more people are found liable for damages. The winning plaintiff in such a case may collect the entire judgment from any one of the parties, or from any and all of the parties in various amounts until the judgment is paid in full. In other words, if any of the defendants do not have enough money or assets to pay an equal share of the award, the other defendants must make up the difference."

Nice, huh?

Cinch straps are your friend.