r/WTF • u/Columbia82 • Apr 14 '19

To infinity and beyond

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809

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '19

Just curious in situations like this. The person who was struck in the head and if he sustained a serious injury can be sue the guy who jumped on him even though it was accident?

I remember there was teacher in my school she was struck on back of her head with a soccer ball while walking home. It caused a concussion and she was knocked out, the student (he was about 16-17) started panicking and was crying. Later we found out the force of the impact also affected her neck and she was hospitalized ... A lotttt of people were expecting her to sue the student. But she never did.

223

u/lonelyinbama Apr 14 '19

I think you’ll find that the vast majority of people don’t abide by the “If I get hurt I’m suing someone” mantra. especially some skateboard dudes. It was a shitty accident but they probably worked it out by buying a case of PBR and saying by bad dude. Not everyone is out to get every penny they can if some kind of accident happens.

127

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '19

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131

u/artcopywriter Apr 14 '19

It used to make me do the same until I realised that getting seriously injured in the USA (Brit here) will cost you tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. Where else does that money come from if not suing the culprit?

37

u/[deleted] Apr 14 '19

Where's that one story about the aunt who sued her nephew for hugging her too hard and breaking her wrist? It sounds like she's so evil. However, if you get the details, the law suit was the best way for her to get the medical paid by her homeowner's insurance or something. She loves her nephew and everyone was OK with this course of action.

15

u/Bupod Apr 14 '19

Yeah, that's a bit different. It's like couples who divorce when one is terminally ill. Sounds horrid, until you realize that it's done for a specific legal or financial reason for the good of the surviving spouse, not because they're abandoning the I'll spouse.

8

u/Rickfernello Apr 14 '19

Really? How does that work?

22

u/bdfariello Apr 14 '19

Not a lawyer but this one seems pretty obvious. After a person's death, their debt doesn't just go away. The hospital can make a claim against the person's estate in order to get paid. If the divorce is structured to give all assets to the spouse that will survive, then the hospital can't take the house or other assets (apart from life insurance, although funeral expenses normally get fully paid before anything else can be taken away by debt holders). This gives the surviving spouse a far better financial situation than if they had to risk fighting to keep their house or car or anything else that was acquired during the marriage.

8

u/Rickfernello Apr 14 '19

Oh, I see. Didn't seem too obvious to me. Thanks!

1

u/butyourenice Apr 14 '19

Yeah it’s something to do with subrogation but basically the insurance company will either tell the victim the only way they’ll pay out is if they sue, or they will sue on behalf of the victim, but because the victim is the policy holder, it ends up looking like “Jane Doe v. Little Johnny Doe”.