[AT] Spam> Was: (OT)Neat jack idea, , Now: lawsuits for stupidity

[Larry D Goss]

LOL!  That's the read everyone has on this, Alan.  My SIL is representing 
the company that made the jack stand.  He feels for the widow and her 
family, but the man did a really dumb thing -- not once, but twice -- before 
it caught up with him.  He had one pair of jack stands.  He had two similar 
cars jacked up in exactly the same way with one jack stand each (No-No). 
The lady is suing for millions.  Limits of liability are probably around 
$300,000.  I saw the 3-D computer animation that the company paid for to 
show the stupidity of the situation.  Not a pretty scene, but if the case 
goes to trial, who knows what will happen.  When the car fell, the jack 
stand took chunks out of the concrete floor before collapsing.  It collapsed 
because the head of the stand slipped off the wishbone, drove the stand 
through sheet metal until it encountered an impediment (engine or 
transmission) and then the shock of the falling car broke the ratchet of the 
jack stand.

My SIL expects the case to be settled out of court.  Why on earth the guy 
was UNDER the car, is anybody's guess, but there was a wrench at the scene 
that fit certain of  the bolts and nuts.

Larry

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan Nadeau" <ajnadeau1 at verizon.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 11:17 AM
Subject: [AT] Spam> Was: (OT)Neat jack idea,, Now: lawsuits for stupidity


> Not trying to dump your SIL, Larry, but this sounds like a case of 
> stupidity
> causing a loss and the survivors trying to make money off the 
> manufacturer.
> If you aren't bright enough to rig a jackstand right you shouldn't be
> working on a vehicle under it nor being rewarded for terminal dumb!
>
> And because the suit is between poor dumb Joe's survivors and a
> manufacturer the jury will make a sympathy award and it will be one more
> reason for insurers to raise the product liability rates for everyone.
>
> Sorry to be blunt but that's my take on so many "defective product" 
> claims.
> If I should kill myself doing something dumb and my heirs sue somebody for
> it I hope I can find a way to come back to haunt them!
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Larry D Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 10:47 AM
> Subject: Re: [AT] Neat jack idea
>
>
>> Uuh, be careful when using jack stands also, folks.  My SIL (attorney) 
>> has
>> a
>> case involving a jack stand (ratchet adjustable) that collapsed under the
>> front end of a small passenger car.  The owner placed it under the
>> wishbone
>> of the front suspension (not a horizontal surface) and proceeded to work
>> on
>> the wheel nut so he could remove the brake disc.
>>
>> He left a widow and three young children.
>>
>> Larry
>
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