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think twice before helping out


dmarc117
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Whatever happened to the "Good Samaritan Act"? This is BS.

What happens if the Good Samaritan acts in a negligent manner? If compaintent wasn't in danger and injured her while pulling her out, it seems reasonable to me. If the woman was in danger, there shouldn't be a case.

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Whatever happened to the "Good Samaritan Act"? This is BS.

 

Good Samaraitan Acts often apply to defined medical professionsals. This is probably the right approach.

 

If you're not a dumbass and you try to help someone in good faith, you're not going to get sued. But if you move somebody with an injury that doesn't have to be moved and you mess that person up, you should be liable, despite your best intentions. (Lots of nice people are negligent.)

 

In the incident reported in the article, the woman "thought" that the car may have been on fire. Sounds like a dumbass to me. I'd taken my chances with the car if I had a choice.

Edited by Furd
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I blame TV. I don't know how many times I watch a show or a movie where someone has a terrible accident, and the first thing someone does is run up and pick them up or give them a big hug or something.

 

Yeah... the first thing you want to do is start moving the head and neck around. Good call, TV man.

 

My wife sighs heavily whenever I point this out when we're watching TV.

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Hi there, I realize that you are trapped in a car that could at any moment

 

a. Fall over that ledge

b. Burst into flames

c. Explode

 

or any number of other things. Now before I try to help you, if you could just sign this wavier the says that if I try and help you, you will not sue me later.....

Edited by JoJoTheWebToedBoy
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I blame TV. I don't know how many times I watch a show or a movie where someone has a terrible accident, and the first thing someone does is run up and pick them up or give them a big hug or something.

 

Yeah... the first thing you want to do is start moving the head and neck around. Good call, TV man.

 

My wife sighs heavily whenever I point this out when we're watching TV.

That's one of the many reasons that my wife avoids watching TV and movies with me. Thankfully our son is still impressionable.

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The "Good Samaritan Act" is ghey to begin with.... I mean, come on... trying to mandate help from a stranger? People are who they are! They either have the conviction to help when someone else is in need or they don't. IMO, I can't see someone that ordinarily wouldn't help, all of a sudden decide to help for fear of breaking the law. There's just too many variables about any given incident to be able to make a case for it one way or the other...

 

Stupid ghey!

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Let the mother f0kr BURN!

 

I'll be singing "The Roof Is On Fire" while I grabbed some marshmallows in the future.

 

We don't need no water, let the muthaf'r burn!

 

Then they'll sue me because I didn't help when I could've. :wacko: Danged lawyers play all the angles, don't they?

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I'll be singing "The Roof Is On Fire" while I grabbed some marshmallows in the future.

 

We don't need no water, let the muthaf'r burn!

 

Then they'll sue me because I didn't help when I could've. :wacko: Danged lawyers play all the angles, don't they?

Whether you're kidding or not, there is troof dere!

1998 a friend of mine and his family came over for dinner and to stay over night. Long story short, he got drunk, went up the stairs and on the landing he and his son were goofing around. Anyway he did a face plant down a short set of stairs on to ceramic. The son yelled, I ran up from downstairs to find him bleeding and NOT breathing, but face down. The old theory was to check the 3 "B's". #1 Breathing, #2 Bleeding, and #3 Broken Bones in order. I looked at him and he was turning blue. I turned him over, administered CPR and after a minute or so hewas breathing again and his color came back. Man.... maybe I shoulda left him face down and waited for the Paramedics cause he may have hurt his neck. :D

You lawyers are prolly right, but in IL, I believe, as long as you acted prudently, no harm no foul. If this person thought the car MIGHT have started on fire, I think that's prudent, but there are too many ambulance chasers out there trying to make a profit. I still call BS!

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That's good advice.

Sad but true. You can thank all the sue-happy POSs in this world for that.

 

Hard to say but my guess is that the sueing person here is taking out her anger at being paralyzed on this person even though the intentions were the very best - and if she hadn't been paralyzed, would probably be singing her friend's praises for saving her. I VERY seriously doubt the "rag doll" BS which they are trying to use as justification. The more I read the more I was convinced of this - their case sounds weak as hell, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if she won.

 

This reminds me of something I experienced many years ago when I and someone I was at lunch with - certified CPR - were asked to rush to a scene on the beach (we were eating lunch beachside) because someone had been dragged from the water after being hit by lightning. We got to the beach - this lady was blue in the face and not moving. Don't think she was dead but couldn't say for sure. Her husband was also pulled out of the water and had some impact from the lightning but much less (was conscious and seemed "OK" but weak/kind of out of it). The guy I was with just looked at the woman and said "ah it's too late she's gone" and made no attempt to revive her. I would have if I knew a damn thing about CPR (I learned after the fact). The whole thing was surreal. Anyway, later I find out he did so because he was afraid of being sued. From what I gather the odds of him being sued successfully were very slim due to being both certified CPR and military to boot, but regardless, to this day I am both appalled and disgusted beyond words at this loser's warped priorities and lack of effort (and to be fair mad at myself for my lack of knowledge - had I known CPR I would have at least tried for chrissake). Point being this kind of BS only encourages people to take his me-first attitude and not help.

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Sad but true. You can thank all the sue-happy POSs in this world for that.

 

I really wasn't blaming anyone. I was suggesting that you think about it for a second before you take action, and use common sense. There really is a gamut of situations.

 

If somebody has stopped breathing, I'm pretty sure that there isn't much you can do to make the situation worse. That person is probably going to die if you do nothing.

 

Car accident. The driver is injured and unconscious. The car is on fire. The driver is in danger of getting burned or worse. Move the driver to a place of safety using as much care as you can.

 

Car accident. The driver is injured and unconscious. There is steam coming up from under the hood. No fire. No smoke. Don't move the driver.

 

Common sense.

 

I'm suspecting that the woman in the story saw steam from the radiator. I mean, how can you "think" that something is on fire?

 

In situations like that, you're either going to help or you aren't. If the rationale for not helping is that you don't want to be sued, you weren't going to help anyway. Its the person, not the law. Quick now, what does your state's good samaritan law say?

 

BTW - In a nation of 300 million people, how many similar lawsuits were filed in the United States last year? I don't know the answer, but I'm willing to bet that there were only a few and they all involved a spinal cord injury.

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