car damage from rail

[spott06]

What is the name of your state? IL
Hi. My teenage son and his three friends were skateboarding a 10-12 foot rail down the street, which they often do, skateboarding being very popular in our neighborhood. It was dark out. The rail was off to the side of the residential street, as usual, and cars usually slow down. According to all four boys, this car sped into the rail (they saw him and managed to get out of the way in time), which jammed up underneath his car, and actually dragged the rail about a block or so before stopping. He called the police, after swearing and yelling at these kids, accusing them of purposely putting the rail there for his car to hit (ridiculous).My son came to get me. When the police arrived, this guy demanded to know who's rail it was, and who was going to pay for the damge to his car. He had insurance. When asked by the cops whose rail it was, my son said it was his, even tho it's actually shared by several kids, and actually belongs to another kid (who was not skating this night). It just happened to be my son's "turn" for using it for a few days.
The driver was not ticketed, altho the boys told the police he was speeding (which explains how the thing got jammed and dragged by his car).
Now this guy is calling my home asking for $600 to pay for the damages to his car. I offered to pay one-fourth only (without thinking), b/c three other kids were using it that night.
He says his lawyer advised him to settle this way as opposed to filing a small claims case.
I think this jerk should be thanking his lucky stars he only hit a rail and not one of these kids while speeding.
Is there any recourse?
Thanks for any advice.

[zippysgoddess]

Okay, so these kids place an obstruction on a residential street and were playing in the street on non-motorized vehicles and you want to blame the driver?

[MandyD]

It's that "not my kid" mentality.

You're lucky the damage is only $600 and if you allow your son to skateboard like that on a residential street, in the dark, you're also lucky he's wasn't hit. It takes a special kind of stupid to allow that.

Maybe you can answer one question for me. What is your son's and his friend's expertise that allows t hem to determine the speed of a car?

[BelizeBreeze]

Originally Posted by spott06

What is the name of your state? IL
Hi. My teenage son and his three friends were skateboarding a 10-12 foot rail down the street, which they often do, skateboarding being very popular in our neighborhood. It was dark out. The rail was off to the side of the residential street, as usual, and cars usually slow down. According to all four boys, this car sped into the rail (they saw him and managed to get out of the way in time), which jammed up underneath his car, and actually dragged the rail about a block or so before stopping. He called the police, after swearing and yelling at these kids, accusing them of purposely putting the rail there for his car to hit (ridiculous).My son came to get me. When the police arrived, this guy demanded to know who's rail it was, and who was going to pay for the damge to his car. He had insurance. When asked by the cops whose rail it was, my son said it was his, even tho it's actually shared by several kids, and actually belongs to another kid (who was not skating this night). It just happened to be my son's "turn" for using it for a few days.
The driver was not ticketed, altho the boys told the police he was speeding (which explains how the thing got jammed and dragged by his car).
Now this guy is calling my home asking for $600 to pay for the damages to his car. I offered to pay one-fourth only (without thinking), b/c three other kids were using it that night.
He says his lawyer advised him to settle this way as opposed to filing a small claims case.
I think this jerk should be thanking his lucky stars he only hit a rail and not one of these kids while speeding.
Is there any recourse?
Thanks for any advice.

You're lucky he's only asking for $600. Instead, your son could be facing charges.

[spott06]

Originally Posted by zippysgoddess

Okay, so these kids places and obstruction on a residential street and were playing in the street on non-motorized vehicles and you want to blame the driver?

Correct .

[spott06]

[quote=BelizeBreeze]You're lucky he's only asking for $600. Instead, your son could be facing charges.[/QUOTE



Hmmmm...Really? And what charges might those be? I only want your expert opinion.

[Litigation!]

Originally Posted by MandyD

It takes a special kind of stupid to allow that.

My response:

I love that phrase!

I'd like to borrow it every now and again, if you don't mind.

IAAL

[spott06]

Originally Posted by MandyD

It's that "not my kid" mentality.

You're lucky the damage is only $600 and if you allow your son to skateboard like that on a residential street, in the dark, you're also lucky he's wasn't hit. It takes a special kind of stupid to allow that.

Maybe you can answer one question for me. What is your son's and his friend's expertise that allows t hem to determine the speed of a car?

Interesting..I do appreciate the ...oh wait. I didn't GET any advice. Just a lecture and echo from 3 rude so called legal experts (all sound like the same crabby lady too). This should be renamed the "free lecture/insult forum"
The guy was speeding. Since when do you have to be an expert to know if someone was speeding or not? Other cars that were doing the speed limit, saw them with no problems. This guy was going so fast the kids barely had time to get out of the way, let alone move the rail. Going so fast that he jammed the rail up under his car and dragged it!! Do you get that?
Now, if this jerk happened to hit one of these kids instead of just a rail (which he dragged), he would've been at fault, for going too fast, or whatever.
These are teenage boys SKATEBOARDING in the neighborhood. Maybe if jerks around town weren't calling the police on them everytime they skated anywhere near their property, they wouldn't have to skate the streets. These kids aren't troublemakers--don't drink or use drugs, aren't in gangs, and do well in school. Now, they did not maliciously put something in the street to mess up someone's car. Sh** happens. They were lucky this time and they've learned a lesson.
This guy can take me to court.

[zippysgoddess]

The issue here has NOTHING to do with the guy speeding, or what any cars on the road were doing, whether other cars saw the kids and their rail or not.

You just don't get it, IT IS ILLEGAL FOR ANY REASON TO OBSTRUCT THE ROADWAY LIKE THAT IT IS ALSO ILLEGAL TO BE ON IT ON NON-MOTORIZED VEHICLES!

The only acceptable non-motorized vehicle that can be on a roadway is a bicycle, that is why there are laws you have to follow when you ride your bike on the road, just like the laws people have to follow when driving their cars, trucks, or whatever vehicle they choose.

Yes, you should be glad he is only asking for repair money, he could have called the cops and filed charges against your son and the other children for malicious obstruction of the roadway! Then you would be paying for a lawyer, court costs, and the repairs to his vehicle.

Placing an obstruction of any kind on the roadway that could create a hazard for drivers is illegal.

Yes, by all means, let him take you to court, so you can pay out even more.

By the way Mandy, I love that statement, just awesome and so perfectly descriptive of these types of situations.

[zippysgoddess]

By the way, if he had hit one of the kids, he would not necessarily be at fault, the laws don't work that way anymore, they would look at the fact that the kids were obstructing the roadway and doing something they shouldn't have been.

At that point, his speed would not matter to the police or the judge, because if the kids weren't engaged in illegal activity it would not have happened.

Pedestrians do not always have the right of way anymore in this world, because the law finally realized that they screw up and do stuff they shouldn't, and you can't always blame the person driving the car.

This guy can take me to court.

I would LOVE to see "Judge Judy" get a hold of this case. Talk about "must see TV"!!

[BelizeBreeze]

[quote=spott06]

Originally Posted by BelizeBreeze

You're lucky he's only asking for $600. Instead, your son could be facing charges.[/QUOTE



Hmmmm...Really? And what charges might those be? I only want your expert opinion.

Criminal Mischief and Endangerment are two.

Shall I continue?

[stealth2]

Originally Posted by spott06

These are teenage boys SKATEBOARDING in the neighborhood. Maybe if jerks around town weren't calling the police on them everytime they skated anywhere near their property, they wouldn't have to skate the streets. These kids aren't troublemakers--don't drink or use drugs, aren't in gangs, and do well in school. Now, they did not maliciously put something in the street to mess up someone's car. Sh** happens. They were lucky this time and they've learned a lesson.

What - you people don't have driveways?

[Litigation!]

Originally Posted by spott06

Interesting..I do appreciate the ...oh wait. I didn't GET any advice. Just a lecture and echo from 3 rude so called legal experts (all sound like the same crabby lady too). This should be renamed the "free lecture/insult forum"
The guy was speeding. Since when do you have to be an expert to know if someone was speeding or not? Other cars that were doing the speed limit, saw them with no problems. This guy was going so fast the kids barely had time to get out of the way, let alone move the rail. Going so fast that he jammed the rail up under his car and dragged it!! Do you get that?
Now, if this jerk happened to hit one of these kids instead of just a rail (which he dragged), he would've been at fault, for going too fast, or whatever.
These are teenage boys SKATEBOARDING in the neighborhood. Maybe if jerks around town weren't calling the police on them everytime they skated anywhere near their property, they wouldn't have to skate the streets. These kids aren't troublemakers--don't drink or use drugs, aren't in gangs, and do well in school. Now, they did not maliciously put something in the street to mess up someone's car. Sh** happens. They were lucky this time and they've learned a lesson.
This guy can take me to court.

My response:

Sorry everybody, but I have to agree with our writer, Spott06, on this one. Want to know why?

IAAL

[Happy Trails]

Originally Posted by Litigation!

My response:

Sorry everybody, but I have to agree with our writer, Spott06, on this one. Want to know why?

IAAL

I'm curious..

Is it because the driver could have avoided hitting the rail, had he been going the legal speed limit?