Chip

Just how selfish can somebody get?

wwwhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4051007.stm

Chip

LG John

Dead link

RJMS

iTrader: (2)

try this -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4051007.stm

stevem2k

just wrong ... plain wrong

Andy S.

Hope nobody uses his Taxi ever again!


Evil bas£$%

gsm1

Maybe he was traumatised, we don't know.

The only thing I would say is how can money help someone suffering from trauma unless the money is paid for counselling?

Buckrogers

How do you know?

Unless you have been in the same situation how can you begin to understand what he is going through?

Lum

Indeed.

I'm against sueing, for the most part, but I honestly don't know how I'd cope if I killed someone in an accident, even if it was 100% their fault. I would probably never be able to drive again.
If I was a taxi driver, that would make me unemployed.
OTOH, the pedestrian was 18 so how the hell are his parents responsible. If it was a kid whose negligent parents had let him go running across central london then maybe..

PS. I'm sueing you for wasting my valuable time by posting an incorrectly formatted link at the start of the post. You'll hear from my lawyers in the morning.

Markus

OK, trauma would have been suffered by the taxi driver, but to consider taking legal action against the parents of the kid who was killed, that's a little crass to say the least. The parents have lost a son, and they are not responsible for him, as he was 18 and thus in the eyes of the law is an adult.

scrappydoo

Cant believe that, its shocking, some people. My friend sued me once after we had an accident in my car with an ambulance (ambulances fault). My friend broke his leg and the next thing i knew he was sue-ing me, i thought that was bad enough but this takes the pi$$.

TAFF-RA

Utterly gobsmacked and disgusted. i really feel for them. can i strap the taxi driver naked to my tailpipe and go full chat anti lag,PLEASE!!.
p.s. was he from the states by any chance, you know, the land where a woman can sue a male voice choir for not letting her join their group

Brit_in_Japan

If you read the article he was living at home. Household insurance includes third party liability so it's under that basis the claim is being made. It's not the parents as such getting sued, it's the household insurers.

Sounds odd that he would make such a claim, but we don't know the full facts. The taxi driver was not prosecuted for the kids death so presumably he was an "innocent party" to the accident.

I read recently that "compensation culture" is more of a popular misconception than actual reality. There have been more frivolous claims since solicitors were allowed to go "no win no fee", but not significantly so. The biggest change there's been is that fear of getting sued has pushed up insurance premiums and made people paranoid about any risk.

TAFF-RA

He's got more cheek than an elephants bum!

jods

Why is this taking the pi$$ ?

It is an awful situation for the family, however, it is hardly likely to be a walk in the park for the cab driver. If his insurance company wouldn't pay for repairs / loss of earnings then I don't see that he had much of an option.
IMO it's another ploy used by the insurance companies to reduce their outgoings.

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

It says the accident was "early hours of the morning". As a guess, the victim was drunk and either walked or staggered onto the road at the wrong time - but that is just a guess. Something like 40% of pedestrian casualties are over the drink-drive limit. From the point of view of the driver, if this was the case, he's minding his own business when someone steps out in front of him with no warning - and the driver kills him. If you were the driver, I think you'd be a bit upset. Again, this is a guess. Having had some drunken student fall backwards in front of my car and come (literally) within two feet of me driving over his head, I can tell you yes, it's a shock.


M

Chip

Yes but why sue the parents. It wasn't their fault was it. Or do we always have to blame someone for everything that happens nowadays.

Chip

dharbige

His parents will be his next of kin, and will therefore have inherited his estate and be the legitimate target of any action. The taxi driver can't sue the lad himself.

I'm not saying I condone this action, but assuming that the accident was totally the fault of the pedestrian, what is the taxi driver supposed to do?

NotoriousREV

OK, look at it this way. If the young lad had pulled out on the taxi driver in another car and ended up killed, the taxi driver would be claiming on the lads insurance. That's all he'll be doing in this case, claiming off the parents household insurance.

It says in the article that the police took no action against the driver following the accident, therefore it's a fairly safe assumption that the accident was not the taxi drivers fault.

Sounds callous and it must be an awful strain on the parents, but at the end of the day the taxi driver is a victim of an accident caused by the lads carelessness. I feel sorry for everyone involved.

TAFF-RA

maybe a media issue here, to which end "claiming on a persons house insurance", has been portrayed as "sueing".
Still if it was as police report said, not his fault why then did he not sue himself(as above).

CrisPDuk

Nothing wrong with this IMO,just because the accident was not your fault, doesn't mean your mate shouldn't be compensated for an injury received through no action of his own. Your insurance co would have just directed the claim straight to the ambulance company insurance.

Back on topic, I don't understand your statement Taff, why would he sue himself if the accident wasn't his fault?

NotoriousREV

How can you possibly know? What if the taxi drive can no longer drive due to the stress? This accident happend 4 years ago, so thats 4 years income the guy could have lost through no fault of his own.

TAFF-RA

just ranting dude, but i was trying to say he could have claimed on his insurance for the damage to his car, surely taxis have full comp!

Mice_Elf

But if it wasn't his fault, why should his premiums go up?

If someone smacks into your car and unfortunately dies, would you claim on your insurance to fix your car or would you want compensation from theirs?

Either way, we only have the media-sensationalised view of this accident, we don't know what the taxi driver has been through. As someone who knows someone who has killed a child on the road, through no fault of their own (the child in question was about 8ish, unaccompanied and decided to suddenly run into the road, in front of this person. He later died. The person was deemed not at fault. Speed was about 25mph in a 30mph.) I can understand some of what may have happened in these 4 years.

The struggle to get back behind the wheel of a car, the panic when going over a pothole / bump and hearing that "noise" that is too reminiscent. The breaking down in tears for no good reason and being unable to work due to stress.

All of this adds up.

jods

I think you are wrong. I think that the cabbie is claiming against an insurance company to cover damage to vehicle and lost earnings. He will probably have agonised over doing it but if his own insurance co. have refused to pay out then he really has no option. Hard decision but understandable IMO.

Tiggs

lol...SN is becoming The Sun!

the bloke didnt sue the family he was dealing with the insurance co. TRY READING the article.

and SN is ALWAYS going on about pedestrians being the cause of accidents and drivers being blamed.........this wasnt the drivers fault, he's suffered...he's compensated. One mans suffereing isnt negated by the increased suffering of others. The boys family has no relevance to the legal issues that the taxi driver was pursuing.

davegtt

look at it this way, if the lad had survived would you all be up in arms at the fact hes sue-ing the driver of the cab?? cause this happens almost every day

paulr

Typical Tiggs reply.....

davegtt

to be fair Paul Im disagreeing with Tiggs on a different thread but I have to agree with that post there of his.

paulr

It was a comment on the tone,not the content....or is it just me who notices it.