Who is reponsible?

[bryce4284]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas.

Wondering who is libel. A Fed-Ex truck driving down our street (we are within the city limits) hits an old cable tv cable that is sagging too low. This causes old cable poles to snap and they are thrown into our new $30,000.00 shop. The cable tv company abandoned the business several years ago. Fed-Ex sent an insurance adjuster to survey the damage, but he said the law was that the cable had to be 18 feet above the ground, and that the truck that hit it was 13 feet tall. He said Fed-Ex was not libel. I kind of agree with him. But within the city limits, when something is abandoned, is the city libel for the damages? The cabel tv company apparently is no longer in business, and like I said earlier, there has been no cable tv in our town for several years. The city has been slowly removing the poles and lines. Is the city libel for damages because they neglected to remove the cable that was not in within the legal guidelines?

 

[TheGeekess]

The word you're looking for is LIABLE, not LIBEL.

Liable \Li"a*ble\ (l[imac]"[.a]*b'l), a. [From F. lier to bind, L. ligare. Cf. Ally, v. t., Ligature.]

1. Bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable; as, the surety is liable for the debt of his principal. [1913 Webster]

2. Exposed to a certain contingency or casualty, more or less probable; -- with to and an infinitive or noun; as, liable to slip; liable to accident. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Accountable; responsible; answerable; bound; subject; obnoxious; exposed.

Usage: Liable, Subject. Liable refers to a future possible or probable happening which may not actually occur; as, horses are liable to slip; even the sagacious are liable to make mistakes. Subject refers to any actual state or condition belonging to the nature or circumstances of the person or thing spoken of, or to that which often befalls one. One whose father was subject to attacks of the gout is himself liable to have that disease. Men are constantly subject to the law, but liable to suffer by its infraction. [1913 Webster]

Definition of Liable from dictionary.net

LIBEL [lahy-buhl] noun, verb, -beled, -bel·ing or ( especially British ) -belled, -bel·ling.
–noun
1.
Law .
a.
defamation by written or printed words, pictures, or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.
b.
the act or crime of publishing it.
c.
a formal written declaration or statement, as one containing the allegations of a plaintiff or the grounds of a charge.
2.
anything that is defamatory or that maliciously or damagingly misrepresents.
–verb (used with object)
3.
to publish a libel against.
4.
to misrepresent damagingly.
5.
to institute suit against by a libel, as in an admiralty court.

Libel | Define Libel at Dictionary.com

 

[The Occultist]

Well Geekess, that explains why he posted his question in the wrong forum, eh?

 

[TheGeekess]

Well Geekess, that explains why he posted his question in the wrong forum, eh?

Absolutely.