So Eddie got into a car accident this morning. Long story short, he was stopped, some guy rear-ended him, etc etc etc. The car is totaled, Eddie's not, all's well.
Anyway, while we were going through all the motions of dealing with insurance crap and going to the emergency room (just to make sure he was fine, which he is), one of Eddie's co-workers called and dispensed the following piece of sage advice:
"Dude! Sue him! If he'd hit you, he'd have sued the crap out of you!"
*sigh*
First of all, we don't know if this guy would have sued us. Since the hypothetical accident in which Eddie was at fault didn't happen, there's no way to know. Second, this was an accident. An "oh shit" moment that any of us could happen to any of us.
For my loyal blog minions who haven't known me for years and heard my previous rants about this subject, let me just say here and now: I am the most anti-litigation person on the planet. Except in certain circumstances (gross neglect, for example), I loathe lawsuits like vegans loathe veal and Scarlett loathes Dan Brown. I believe that people make mistakes, and people on the receiving end of those mistakes are not entitled to a windfall for their trouble. "Because we can" is not a reason to take someone to court and try to squeeze a few grand out of them.
So, it greatly disturbs me that the knee jerk reaction to "I got into a car accident" is "SUE! SUE! SUE!"
Yes, we could sue the guy if we wanted to. Yes, there's a possibility he'd sue us if the roles were reversed. However, just because we can and he might have doesn't mean we should. Unless there were outstanding bills - i.e., his insurance didn't cover all the expenses as a result of the accident - there is no reason for it.
The other guy's insurance is going to see that we get another car. Eddie's injuries are minor and his medical is 100% covered because he's active duty military. There are no lingering expenses as a result of the accident, therefore there is no legitimate reason to pursue money from the other driver.
Theoretically, we could score a few thousand dollars off this guy for "pain and suffering". Personally, I'm partial to being able to sleep at night.
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I wish more people would oppose this sueing culture. It would certainly make the world a better place.
ReplyDeleteExcellent blog. I preach the same business. people wonder why rates are so high for medical care and insurance.....
ReplyDeleteAllow me to jump in here real quick with some observations and info gleened from law school. The *reason* the insurance companies are going to provide you a new car is because you have the right to sue. They have no obligation to you otherwise. It is your legal right that enables the process to go forward. Settlements between insurance companies are, in effect, high-speed lawsuits, where your insurance company and the other party run the numbers and turn out a $ figure, just as if you'd gone to court. Lori, you may feel anti-letigious, but the truth is that possibility of litigation is what's going to get you made whole.
ReplyDeleteAs to Eddie's medical care. When Sarah was in an accident about 9 months ago, she too was covered by my car insurance and her health insurance. But why should those entities be on the hook to pay for medical care that the person who crashed into her caused? The same goes for the U.S. Military in Eddie's case. Eventually, the opposing insurance in Sarah's case paid us enough money to reimburse our insurance... which is as it should be.
The point of public tort law is not to be a get-rich-quick scheme, though plnety see it that way and try (often unsuccesfully) to play that game. We are convinced by TV that's "the way it works". But in truth, the point of the system is that someone caused you harm and society believes it is that person's responsibility to make you as whole as possible. It's not about making big bucks, its about society's determination that if you break something -- accident or not -- you are responsible for cleaning up after yourself.
I hope Eddie's medical issues are slight... Sarah started off that way, but eventually got bad enough she had to see doctors and nearly take off time from school because she had troubles concentrating.
Sean - To clarify, my issue is not so much with having damage (medical, vehicle) covered, it's the idea of cashing out. i.e., suing for as much money as I can get out of the guy for no other reason than I CAN. Covering damage? Absolutely, I don't have a problem with that. Using the system to squeeze a few grand out of someone so I can get a new plasma screen TV? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteTHAT is what we're being encouraged to do.