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$1.4 Million for bike accident



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 22nd 05, 07:58 AM
Gags
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Default $1.4 Million for bike accident

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?

A NSW woman left brain damaged after a BMX accident as a teenager was today
awarded almost $1.4 million in damages.

Rhiannon Rigby, now 23, successfully sued Shellharbour City Council and
South Lake BMX Club in the NSW Supreme Court over an accident at an Albion
Park BMX track on November 11, 1995.

The then 13-year-old lay in a coma for nine days after crashing as she went
over the first hump of the track.

She sustained permanent frontal lobe brain damage.

Justice John Dunford found both defendants were negligent because they
failed to fence off the starting pad and ramp on the track.

"Such fencing would not be disproportionately expensive and would have
prevented the plaintiff approaching the first jump at such high speed and
this would probably have prevented her fall, or at least rendered it much
less catastrophic," he said.

However, Justice Dunford reduced the payout by 20 per cent because he said
Ms Rigby had known of a previous accident at the track only a few years
earlier where a man had died.

Justice Dunford ordered the two defendants each pay half of the $1,373,992
damages.

AAP

and this from the ABC Website

Woman wins $1.4m damages after BMX bike accident A New South Wales woman
will receive damages of almost $1.4 million after the Supreme Court found a
south coast council and BMX club were liable for injuries she suffered as a
teenager.

Rhiannon Rigby was 13 when a friend dared her to ride down the starting ramp
at a BMX bike track at Albion Park, south of Sydney, in 1995.
Ms Rigby crashed her bike and suffered frontal lobe damage which has left
her with a severe and significant disability.

She has since been unable to maintain a job and has a young child.
Supreme Court Justice John Dunford has found that the Shellharbour City
Council and the Southlake BMX Club which operated the track were negligent
because the starting ramp should have been fenced off from the public.

He has awarded Ms Rigby provisional damages of almost $1.4 million, with the
amount to be finalised next month.


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  #2  
Old February 22nd 05, 08:12 AM
Peter McCallum
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Default $1.4 Million for bike accident

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
  #3  
Old February 22nd 05, 08:27 AM
DaveB
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Default $1.4 Million for bike accident

Peter McCallum wrote:

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.


Paid for by who (or is it whom, can never keep track of that one)?
Surely if anyone injured regardless of circumstances gets a payout it
should be a govt funded payout, not the organisations and their
insurance companies who are seen as the suckers, or worse yet, poor Joe
Bloggs who gets sued for some idiot's act of stupidity. Having just
watched hundreds of people on the news bitching and moaning about Virgin
because they happened to be the poor company that was located in a
terminal with a gas leak (or whatever), I've had about enough of
everyone lookign for someone else to blame. **** happens, and sometimes
it is even your own fault. The cost of any adventure sport, includign
cycling (and see the other threads about membership costs and insurance)
has been absolutely stuffed by this blame attitude.

DaveB " a little on edge with a shoulder injury and unable to ride, swim
or run"
  #4  
Old February 22nd 05, 08:43 AM
Peter McCallum
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Default $1.4 Million for bike accident

DaveB wrote:

Peter McCallum wrote:

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.


Paid for by who (or is it whom, can never keep track of that one)?
Surely if anyone injured regardless of circumstances gets a payout it
should be a govt funded payout, not the organisations and their
insurance companies


Agree with you there. something like medicare but enough to cover the
cost of carers, home modifications, etc. If I was a 25 year old and fell
off my bike, broke my neck and paralysed, it would be nice to know that
I didn't have to spend the rest of my days in a nursing home with a
bunch of old people ready for the final ambulance ride. In the current
circumstances, unless you can successfully sue someone, that's what you
have to look forward to.

I think most people object to people who have been injured receiving
compensation because the poor old sporting association or council they
had to sue is made to look like the villain. If there was a no-fault
system (I think something like this operates in New Zealand), then that
would stop the tabloids and shock jocks getting people whipped up about
these things. As you say "**** happens" and it's part of life. The
community should make allowances for that and support people rather than
subjecting them to a life of misery.

Peter
--
Peter McCallum
Mackay Qld AUSTRALIA
  #5  
Old February 22nd 05, 08:44 AM
hippy
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Default $1.4 Million for bike accident

DaveB wrote:
Paid for by who (or is it whom, can never keep track of that one)?
Surely if anyone injured regardless of circumstances gets a payout it
should be a govt funded payout, not the organisations and their
insurance companies who are seen as the suckers, or worse yet, poor Joe
Bloggs who gets sued for some idiot's act of stupidity.


If I had a $1 for every time I did something stupid...

watched hundreds of people on the news bitching and moaning about Virgin
because they happened to be the poor company that was located in a
terminal with a gas leak (or whatever),


The triathlete at work was stuck in that.. he's very calm though and
just booked another flight out.. I'd be going mental

DaveB " a little on edge with a shoulder injury and unable to ride, swim
or run"


I didn't realise you put 'so much' into your study Dave?!?!

hippy
  #6  
Old February 22nd 05, 09:03 AM
DaveB
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Default $1.4 Million for bike accident

hippy wrote:
DaveB " a little on edge with a shoulder injury and unable to ride,
swim or run"



I didn't realise you put 'so much' into your study Dave?!?!

hippy


I could accept it if the injury happenned while doing something
strenuous, but I did it in my sleep! That's the second damned injury
I've had in my sleep in the past year. Snuck out for a test ride today
but only capable of riding on the flat or downhill and not much of that
around here. I'll give it another day and then see the doc.

DaveB "I want a real injury"
  #7  
Old February 22nd 05, 09:03 AM
cfsmtb
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Default $1.4 Million for bike accident


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



Pause for thought, have a gander at this: 'City's saddled with $10
bike suits.
(http://www.nydailynews.com/news/loca...p-242467c.html) Now
there's unforeseeable accidents, and possibly foreseeable accidents. Th
NY situation is a absolute clusterfcuk, while without knowing the ful
details of the BMX accident, I'll agree with Peter, this 'arbitary
method of securing compensation is appalling. The recent ruling i
another case in NSW has raised discussion of a no-fault acciden
compensation scheme, see here, 'High Court upholds damages pay-out t
Bondi victim' (http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1299925.htm

--
cfsmtb

  #8  
Old February 22nd 05, 10:35 AM
TimC
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Posts: n/a
Default $1.4 Million for bike accident

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 at 08:03 GMT, DaveB (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
hippy wrote:
DaveB " a little on edge with a shoulder injury and unable to ride,
swim or run"


I didn't realise you put 'so much' into your study Dave?!?!


I could accept it if the injury happenned while doing something
strenuous, but I did it in my sleep! That's the second damned injury


I don't appear to have posted anywhere on teh UNSENET about my
shoulder dislocation.


I was in an physics exam.

I merely stetched backwards.

I fainted from the pain (hey, I manage to faint at least twice a year
(hmmm, I'm overdue) because of something completely woosy happening to
me, or someone even /talking/ about blood). People gathered around.
Many were happy for the 15 minutes extra they got on their exam.

I moved to another room, after sitting in the doctor's rest room for
an hour, and did the last 2 hours of my exam. I'm sure I got some
"special consideration" marks in there somewhere.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
"I used to be better at logic problems, before I just dumped
them all into TeX and let Knuth pick out the survivors."
-- Plorkwort, 26 September 2004 on alt.religion.kibology
  #9  
Old February 22nd 05, 10:40 AM
TimC
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Posts: n/a
Default $1.4 Million for bike accident

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 at 08:03 GMT, cfsmtb (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Peter McCallum Wrote:
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.



Pause for thought, have a gander at this: 'City's saddled with $10M
bike suits.'
(http://www.nydailynews.com/news/loca...p-242467c.html) Now,


"I went over the bump and my wheel came off completely," said Natalie
Tyler, 29, of Manhattan. "I landed on my head."

I would suggest your bike is not very roadworthy, but, having said
that, I think a 1" metal plate is a bit... silly to be putting on a
bike path. I've complained to council over issues like that.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
Just because they are called 'forbidden' transitions does not mean
that they are forbidden. They are less allowed than allowed
transitions, if you see what I mean. --unk
  #10  
Old February 22nd 05, 10:22 PM
Peter Signorini
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Default $1.4 Million for bike accident


"DaveB" wrote in message
u...

terminal with a gas leak (or whatever), I've had about enough of
everyone lookign for someone else to blame. **** happens, and sometimes
it is even your own fault. The cost of any adventure sport, includign
cycling (and see the other threads about membership costs and insurance)
has been absolutely stuffed by this blame attitude.

DaveB " a little on edge with a shoulder injury and unable to ride, swim
or run"


Strongly agree with your concerns here. After my recent MTB _accident_ I'm
also suffering the loss of many favouite activities (6weeks on crutches, no
work, no cycling, snorkeling, skiing? for even longer) due to broken hip and
strained shoulder. If I was a litigious prick I could probably take the
event organisers to the cleaners and boost my bank account by suing for
negligence "They should have marked the mud wallow with a sign 'Danger - mud
is slippery' and put witches hats out"

Somewhere in the whole scheme of living we are morally required to take some
responsibility for our own actions in situations where 'common sense'
indicates that their is some level of risk that we are taking. As far as the
BMX girl is concerned, speeding your BMX of a high start ramp over some
jumps has a clear risk of getting significant air, and coming seriously
unstuck as a result. She was unlucky and got brain damge, the next rider's
fall may have only been a sprained ankle.

Taking the local council to the cleaners because of your own risk taking and
bad luck is morally bankrupt. This is leading to the death of a lot of
entirely reasonable activities that 20 years ago we would not have thought
twice about, and accepted the risks involved ourselves.

Cheers
Peter


 




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