2 dead & 6 injured as teens take after hours sled ride down Winsport bobsleigh track

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

^Im sure people understand that the trespassing is moot point, however they are arguing that it shouldn't be a moot point. And I would tend to agree with that.

What I'd like to know is how this came to be law to begin with. I keep thinking about that case of the burglar injuring himself when he broke into that home undergoing renos. I mean the gall to file the lawsuit in the first place.....

And seriously, how many people would read that judgement and consider it to be good an fair? It's completely absurd.

I realize you shouldn't be allowed to booby trap your property but you shouldn't have to make sure it's 100% safe in the off chance someone breaks in either.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

I hate to speak for those grieving families, but I hope they choose not to pursue a lawsuit. I'd be extremely disappointed if they did, and even more so if they won.

I can't even begin to imagine the pain the family is going through right now. I can completely understand if they are trying to find a "why" or a "reason". I would suspect they need to know that there was some other person/entity responsible for what happened.

I honestly, I can't say I would be "disappointed" it they pursued a claim/lawsuit.

They are just trying to rebuild some type of normalcy from this horror.

Will a lawsuit/claim do that, I have no idea, but I can't even get my mind into their mindset to try and think that through.

I don't know if I would ever recover.

[RogerWilco]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Why? Do you know all the safety features involved? Or the training given to the users? When used as designed it hasn't been an issue in 30 years. You consider that a miracle, I consider that maybe they have good procedures that work.

Not exactly a non issue in the 30 years. In 1994 a bobsled team hit the barrier when someone apparently forgot to set it to the correct position. Injuries sustained but no one was killed. I'll try to find the Calgary herald article about it..

[polak]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

What I'd like to know is how this came to be law to begin with. I keep thinking about that case of the burglar injuring himself when he broke into that home undergoing renos. I mean the gall to file the lawsuit in the first place.....

And seriously, how many people would read that judgement and consider it to be good an fair? It's completely absurd.

I realize you shouldn't be allowed to booby trap your property but you shouldn't have to make sure it's 100% safe in the off chance someone breaks in either.

I'm guessing a good lawyer pointing out to the burglar that maybe they could sue for them not taking due care to ensure the safety of anyone on the property? Invited or not.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

What I'd like to know is how this came to be law to begin with. I keep thinking about that case of the burglar injuring himself when he broke into that home undergoing renos. I mean the gall to file the lawsuit in the first place.....

And seriously, how many people would read that judgement and consider it to be good an fair? It's completely absurd.

I realize you shouldn't be allowed to booby trap your property but you shouldn't have to make sure it's 100% safe in the off chance someone breaks in either.

Originally Posted by polak

I'm guessing a good lawyer pointing out to the burglar that maybe they could sue for them not taking due care to ensure the safety of anyone on the property? Invited or not.

Nah it is more on the courts for handing down the decisions.

You see the same thing with monetary awards, some of them are totally crazy.

http://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abqb/doc...ocompletePos=1

Plaintiff’s vehicle totalled $986.40.

In summary, I find that the Plaintiff has failed to establish on a balance of probabilities that he was fully disabled and unable to work by reason of the accident beyond the date of the surveillance video, being March 7, 2008. Therefore, the Defendant is liable for the Plaintiff’s damages only up to that date. Those damages include general damages in the amount of $50,000, special damages of $5,130.59 and loss of past income of $273,735 for a total of $328,865.59.

[393] In the event that I am wrong in my finding that the Plaintiff’s disability did not extend beyond March 7, 2008, I find the Defendant liable for general damages in the amount of $110,000, special damages of $10,808.05, lost income of $492,889 and cost of future care of $23,792.46 for a total of $637,489.51. .

Enjoy

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by RogerWilco

Not exactly a non issue in the 30 years. In 1994 a bobsled team hit the barrier when someone apparently forgot to set it to the correct position. Injuries sustained but no one was killed. I'll try to find the Calgary herald article about it..

I think this is what you were referring to.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2016/02/08...ed-track-crash

[FlamesAddiction]

From a legal standpoint, how is this different than when people trespass onto rail corridors and are killed? You hear about it once in a while, but you never hear about rail companies getting sued or being held liable.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

What I'd like to know is how this came to be law to begin with. I keep thinking about that case of the burglar injuring himself when he broke into that home undergoing renos. I mean the gall to file the lawsuit in the first place.....

And seriously, how many people would read that judgement and consider it to be good an fair? It's completely absurd.

I realize you shouldn't be allowed to booby trap your property but you shouldn't have to make sure it's 100% safe in the off chance someone breaks in either.

Even weirder when you think it happened in the States, where you can shoot intruders. If they had just shot him, everything woulda been fine (for them).

So weird that you can injure/kill someone on your property in self defense, but if your property does, it's a crime.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Enjoy

Rage....

I guess at the end of the day, awards like that won't be paid personally by the defendant but by their insurer. Still, it's reasons like this that auto insurance rates are as high as they are.

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by Daradon

Even weirder when you think it happened in the States, where you can shoot intruders. If they had just shot him, everything woulda been fine (for them).

So weird that you can injure/kill someone on your property in self defense, but if your property does, it's a crime.

You're allowed to use deadly force in Canada too.

And the person getting injured on your property isn't a crime, it's a civil matter.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I can't even begin to imagine the pain the family is going through right now. I can completely understand if they are trying to find a "why" or a "reason". I would suspect they need to know that there was some other person/entity responsible for what happened.

I honestly, I can't say I would be "disappointed" it they pursued a claim/lawsuit.

They are just trying to rebuild some type of normalcy from this horror.

Will a lawsuit/claim do that, I have no idea, but I can't even get my mind into their mindset to try and think that through.

I don't know if I would ever recover.

Yeah, maybe disappointed is the wrong word to use. Either way, just a tragedy all around. I don't even want to imagine myself being in their position. Awful stuff.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by polak

so I might be wrong.

Has that ever happened before?

[Buck Murdock]

To those who used to use the track competitively...did you do bobsled, luge, skeleton? At what level did you race?

[metallicat]

Does the barrier get placed in only one of two positions? So either blocking the luge or blocking the bobsled? If they had gone down the luge track would they have just gone all the way to the bottom?

[polak]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

Has that ever happened before?

Once.

[flamesfan1297]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Does the barrier get placed in only one of two positions? So either blocking the luge or blocking the bobsled? If they had gone down the luge track would they have just gone all the way to the bottom?

I believe so. If they had used the luge track they would have just gone to the bottom. To the best of my knowledge

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Does the barrier get placed in only one of two positions? So either blocking the luge or blocking the bobsled? If they had gone down the luge track would they have just gone all the way to the bottom?

Yes. There was literally a 50/50 chance of what happened, happening, given what they were doing.

Whether or not they would have made it all the way down to the bottom of the track may be in question...but if they had gone down the luge track instead of the bobsled one, they would have encountered the gate as a proper chute wall, instead of a barrier.

[Mr.Coffee]

I was thinking about this incident the other day and the phrase "I can't imagine what it'd be like" is so cliche. But that's exactly what I come up with. I have two very small children and perspective transforms so greatly when you have a baby. Your whole life just becomes about them and your family. To think about all the caring, love, hard work, time, memories that go into everything that involves raising a baby to a kid to a teenager, and then to have this horrible accident. It just is unthinkable, and I end up at not having a clue as to how one would feel.

So, it just seems weird to me that people would judge the decision making in what clearly was a mistake. It's so easy to judge people, but I just have a feeling that most of the people judging don't have kids themselves. This whole story just kind of makes me sick, it honestly is so terrible. I hope those parents can somehow one day, pull themselves together because the truth is this accident didn't just impact those kids, it impacted a few families as well. I suspect these people will need a lot of sympathy, love and support.

[doctajones428]

Originally Posted by Dan02

No, but if the draw bridge is around a blind curve with no chance of stopping before you go over it the engineer needs to take all reasonable precautions to ensure that no one can will be able to hit the bridge while it is up.

So was the track designed with enough precautions to prevent people from using it when it was setup like this? If the teens entered the track at the top through the start house then the answer is most likely not.

I wish people would stop bring up the trespassing aspect, yes they shouldn't have been there doing it, we all can agree with that. However, as Vlad has mentioned, it's a completely moot point.

Doesn't matter if it's a straightaway, a corner, a blind corner or damn loopty loop, there is no stopping on that track once you go down. None. You're going to the bottom whether you like it or not. If the gate is up, you are going into it. It's a steep narrow tube of solid ice thats designed to propel sleighs and sleds to nearly 100 miles per hour. You ain't stopping unless you have cleats on (And I don't think even those could stop you)

If the track is up and running and used properly, the gate won't ever be an issue. Same with the bridge, if you're driving normal speeds around that blind corner with the bridge up, you will have time to stop, but if you speed through the blind corner without a thought in the world with the bridge up, well...

In short, don't go down closed tracks and don't speed through blind corners

[Philly06Cup]

So much hyperbole and strawman arguments on COP's liability. There is a spectrum to it.

Factor in how dangerous the contraption is. Was the contraption being used in an ordinary way. Measures taken to prevent and avoid the danger. Likelihood of someone getting injured. Circumstances around the location -- here its a location regularly open to the public.