biwipops

Shows that while to some extent, lawyers are an occasional necessity, this country is going to h... because of them. Look at politics: bills of 2000 pages that even some of them can't understand. Look at tax laws, the health care package and back-door deals, the loopholes made by lawyers for lawyers; in the Senate alone, about 60%, that's 60 of 100 Senators, are lawyers. How many in the House? Is it any wonder that, regardless of what happens to the economy, the financial industry, the mortgage industry, the job market, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, retirement, et al, Congress will ensure that, through it's legalese, they will take care of themselves, first and foremost; the public be damned. Their only concern is to get re-elected and continue feeding at the trough of public money.

As for the lawsuit itself, yes personal responsibility is tossed out the window. When will some lawyer sue appliance makers for not having "flesh-detection" technology on kitchen cutlery to protect the careless cook?

BruceJ mentioned seatbelt laws, speaking of human fallibility vice carelessness or stupidity. I beg to differ. I also was in the safety field. As a Naval Aviation Safety Officer attached to a major training air wing, I never had to bury a pilot for any aircraft accident, and there were some. I did, however, bury more than one pilot who managed to kill himself in an auto accidents. I don't recall the specifics as to seatbelt usage, but I do know this; while seatbelts are meant to protect the driver, the greater impact is what happens when a driver, not wearing one, loses control of his/her vehicle. It becomes a missile and can cause death/injury to anyone in its path. This is the more accepted reason for mandatory laws. Yes, personal injury is considered, but that aspect is just that, personal. So it is with any concept of doing to oneself vice doing to others. There is a big difference. We shouldn't have to pay for one to disregard his/her own safety.

By the way, of the $1.5 M settlement, how much do the lawyers get?