Gags gags_44nospamatnospamtpg.com.au wrote:

We have got a cycling newsgroup on the intranet at work and I lifted this
one from there.........it was the first I had heard about it and it does
seem a bit excessive to me??
Gags

While this is quite an unfortunate incident, my god, get real!! People have
got to be responsible for their own actions. If this girl was going to ride
the track it wouldn't have made bugger all difference if the council erected
a fence. This sort of stuff makes me so mad, if you're that out of control
on a bike there's a million ways not to commit to a jump. IMHO she had every
intention of attempting the jump and just stuffed it, sorry but that's
nobody else's responsibility but hers 13 years old or not.

Anyone else have an opinion on this one?


In my opinion, anyone who's injured in an accident or otherwise,
regardless of fault, should receive income support to the extent that
they can't work. That way we coud get rid of this stupid situation where
some people can receive "excessive" compensation and others nothing at
all.

As far as excessive goes, once negligence is determined, it would be a
matter of determining what her earning potential was over the rest of
her working life. So, as a 13 year old, she'd be entitled to a lot more
than a 50 year old injured in the same way. $1.4 million over a lifetime
doesn't seem all that much. She'd probably have to pay her lawyers out
of that and repay any money received from medicare and social security.

I don't know about you, but I've done some stupid things in my time and
fortunately survived. It's just part of being human (or maybe just male)
to make rash decisions, especially if you are subject to peer pressure
or wanting to prove yourself. Fortunately you get over it if you survive
long enough.

Peter

--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA