Driver sues family of cyclist she killed for mental anguish

[Lemon Drop]

Not only do I not think this is a "normal" countersuit, but I can't find a single other example of a driver who kills a teenager with her car suing the estate of the dead teenager.
It may well have been an unavoidable accident, and there is no question that she will suffer mental anguish as a result. But seeking a financial remedy for that suffering from the dead child is just plain bizarro.

[RAMd®d]

“They’re kids!” he gasps. “And they have a right to make mistakes ... it was a wet, dark road — what about slowing down?”

Idiot.


17-year-old bike enthusiast was out with his two buddies on Oct. 28, 2012 when they hopped on their bicycles to go for hot dogs on a drizzly, dark night around 1:30 a.m.

A South Simcoe Police report shows Simon admitted that she was driving at 90 km/h in an 80 km/h zone on the two-lane road. She claims she didn’t see the boys or any of the orange-red pedal reflectors.

A lot of actual facts aren't available from the linked article and it's absolutely stupid to jump to conclusions based on so little informations.

But knock yourselves out.

6mph doesn't over a posted speed limit doesn't by itself define negligence.

And no, not everybody does it. Dumbass statement.

But even doing the posted speed limit in dark, wet, drizzly conditions *could* be negligent, particularly if you can't see three bicycles in front of you. It's an assumption on my part that all three were in front of her, though I admit only one was stated to be struck from behind.

One thing that always bothers me is seeing bicycles out at night without illumination, front and rear. This might have helped. But many jurisdictions do not require lights on bicycles.


The report also states: “No breathalyzer was performed. Although police say no alcohol was suspected and no charges were laid.

Was she drinking? There is no mention of the odor of an alcoholic beverage about her breath or person. There is no indication that she was impaired in any way.


“They did not apply their brakes properly,” the claim states. “They were incompetent bicyclists.”

So what's that mean? What was their direction of travel? What was hers?

There may be bad police work involved, but there certainly is overwhelming evidence of bad "journalism".

At this point I'm more interesting in the outcome of the collision investigation.