RE: Accidents and lawyers

["PAT MARTIN" <MARDKINS@msn.com>]

I agree with just about everything you say.  BUT the attendant did not even 
know where the shutoff switch was.  That is very bad and deserves a suit on 
that fact alone.  I too believe unless there is some gross negligence as far 
as maintenance goes this may just be some freak accident but when the "trained 
attendant" cant even turn off the gas this is a very bad situation.  What if 
this happens to some little old lady who doesn't have the where with all to 
find the switch.  This can be potentially catastrophic with more than one 
person getting killed.
Pat Martin
864000csq  2 1/2 cat back, H&R-Boge,advanced and loving it.  Drilled and 
stopping it.  Koenig Cobra 16x7 with AVS Intermediates, K&N. 
95 subaru legacy 
Bothell, Wa.
>And you guys complain that you have too many lawyers?  It's clearly not just
>the lawyers themselves, it's the whole attitude.  As soon as something bad
>happens, your first assumption is ...>
>"Somebody is liable.  I'll sue the pants off the bastard!"
>>Well, maybe somebody was negligent, and didn't inspect the pump.  Or 
maybe>there is a design flaw, and pumps are blowing up every day somewhere 
(though>this is the first one I have heard of).
>>But I have to look at the other side, too.  There's a guy who makes his
>living running a gas station, and he may be doing the best damn job he can.
>And just maybe he was doing things right.  Just maybe the inspectors and
>manufacturers are doing things by the book.
>>Accidents happen.  Perfectly good planes fall out of the sky.  Perfectly 
good
>pieces of equipment fail on cars.  Products and systems are engineered to
>meet standards, but nature and materials aren't perfectly predictable -- for
>example, a flaw in the rubber could have caused the hose to burst.
>>Human errors happen, too, without there being negligence in involved -- or
>each one of you negligent each time you cause an accident?  
>>I am *NOT* saying that the gas station/company/inspector is innocent.  I am
>just decrying the tendency to publicly convict and crucify them automatically
>without any evidence, and to call in the lawyers.  This attitude is what
>makes your judicial system as litigation-happy as it is, not what any one
>lawyer does.
>
>ObAudiContent: My forthcoming 1.8T quattro may have a flaw in it -- who
>knows.  But I don't intend to call a lawyer as soon as I find one.
>
>-----
>Tom Haapanen -- Software Metrics Inc. -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
>A Microsoft Solution Provider Partner -- http://www.metrics.com/
>