Discussion Questions

DQ

This week I am giving you 3 options for your DQs. Choose any 2 to answer; DQs are due Thursday. You will not receive extra credit by responding to all 3 options, but a 3rd answer could be used as a participation post.

Option 1:

Mary is cutting weeds at her home. She is unable to trim some weeds she finds, because they grew between the rocks, so she removes the protective guard on the weed trimmer and trims the weeds. There are no warnings on the weed trimmer advising against removing the guard. She hits a rock, which is thrown to the side, hitting her neighbor in the eye and causing permanent damage. What kind of tort claim does the neighbor have? Who are the possible defendants?

Your DQ answer is due Thursday.

I would say this is Mary and weed trimmer company’s fault because Mary were not supposed to take out the guard before reading instructions and the company were supposed to put warning signs on the guard. Weed trimmer is considered like a weapon if it is not used carefully and company that makes it should be aware of all the dangers. The maker of the product should’ve fully tested the product before it released to the market. This is an unintentional tort (negligence) claim (injury to plaintiff) for Mary and strict liability and product liability claim for the company. The possible defendants are Mary and the weed trimmer company.

Option 2:

Felix is a school bus driver. He is driving children home from school one day, when he is distracted by a fight in the back of the bus. He turns to see what is happening behind him, and accidentally strikes and kills two twins riding bicycles in the bike lane. One twin is a brain surgeon, and the other is a garbage collector. Each has dependents. Explain how damages will be calculated for each victim, and why the families will collect different amounts. Is this a fair system? Why or why not?

Both of the twins are killed in this incident by a school bus driver under an unintentional tort. One twin is a brain...