My friend works for a camp, & the kids were riding in a van on the way to camp, & the van driver stopped to go inside WalMart to pick up prescriptions, saying she was gonna only be a minute. She left the van runnng b/c there's a girl who gets overheated easily. My friend said that wasn't a smart move. & she had 20 kids & teens riding in a 15-passenger van, & nobody was wearing a seatbelt, & some of the kids were sitting on the floor. When the driver went in the store, one of the teenage boys went to drive the van & wrecked it & many of the kids got hurt. He said he was taking the van for a "Spin". He was 16 yrs. old. & a lot of the other kids' parents' reaction is to sue the boy's parents & the lady who drives the van, & the lady went to jail. My friend has to drive the van sometimes, & when she does, she take 1/2 with her each time & makes 2 trips so that all the kids can ride safely & in seatbelts. & my friend said the lady should've gone on her own time 2 pick up the prescriptions.
2007-06-30 09:19:05 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
The lady was wrong for many reasons: 1. too many kids in the car. 2. no seat belts. 3. leaving the kids unattended. 4. leaving the car running. 5. personal errands when she should have been working.
Your friend is right to make two trips. I hope that she has someone to watch the kids at both ends of the trips though so they are not unattended while she is getting the second bunch. I don't want her to get sued too.
2007-06-30 12:09:56 · answer #1 · answered by Patti C 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The organization that owns the camp and hired the driver is also liable. They used poor judgement in allowing this whole scenario to occur. It was probably the idea of someone other than the driver to put so many kids in the van together with no other adult supervising.
The driver is, of course, liable. Where did she think she was that she thought she could get a Rx in a minute??!! More deplorably poor judgement. Since she was sent to jail for what she did, it would be simple to prove in civil court for a suit.
When your friend drives only 1/2 at a time, is the other 1/2 left in the care of an adult? If not, she's making as big an error.
2007-06-30 09:56:40 · answer #2 · answered by Patsy A 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Confusing; did this really happen or is this a hypothetical? Is the lady in jail? Was the 16 yr old arrested? If our child went through what? Being the 16 yr old to steal and wreck the van, or being in the van as it happened?
If my child was the one that wrecked it, not sure how I'd react outside of being p*ssed and denying driving privileges until he was of age.
If my child was in the van; probably wouldn't sue but would demand the driver that left it running while doing personal errands lost her license for a time, and her ability to work with and/or drive kids for a very long time. If no satisfaction through criminal court, I might sue for those things, but not cash; how does that help?
The camp should face charges or fines for allowing transportation to occur with overcrowding. They have a responsibility to all the families, and need to make the rules and expectations clear to their employees.
Of COURSE you shouldn't be doing personal errands while driving kids under contract, and under no circumstances do you leave a van full of kids running. That's just dumb.
2007-06-30 09:35:25 · answer #3 · answered by huh? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would sue the driver of the van, the boy would wrecked the vehicle (and I would also make sure this boy got counseling because at 16 he should have known better) and the camp. The driver should be in jail for as long as possible, she obviously doesn't think before she acts. The camp should also be held responsible and should be prosecuted, if the van was their property, the driver was their employee and the children were their responsibility. They should not be allowed to "slide" on this. If my children were in that van I would not rest until every possible legal action is carried out.
2007-06-30 09:26:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The car insurance should cover the children's injury claims. If the parents are just looking for a payout then the best place to sue is the camp itself.
Most likely, if the boy was unlicensed he will be punished for that in terms of not getting his license until 18 or 21 and the rest will be handled by insurance providers.
If I were a parent, I would expect a full refund from the camp for the year's tuition, I would expect that person would be prosecuted and fired and I would just focus on my child getting healthy.
2007-06-30 09:27:31 · answer #5 · answered by iampatsajak 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Definitely the driver is at fault. When you're responsible for kids, you don't run errands. I do wonder why the parents of these 20 kids didn't know how many kids were in the van and that they weren't buckled. Do they get picked up at their homes? Didn't the parents notice that the kids weren't getting buckled and that there were too many kids? I'm by no means suggesting it was the parents fault, just wondering about the situation.
2007-06-30 12:22:04 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
the lady of the van was at fault the most. she's not getting paid to do her errands. she needs to wait until she does her job to deal with her own needs.
as for the teenage boy, that wasn't a very smart move either. I would understand parents wanting to sue him too.
2007-06-30 09:29:02 · answer #7 · answered by Tiffany 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i completly agree with your friend's way of doing it. the 16 year old should get counceling and the lady should go to jail. the lady should also not be getting stuff done well on the job. she should do it in her own time.
2007-06-30 09:34:36 · answer #8 · answered by derfman24 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
your friend is right, I would probably talk to the lady first and if she agrees that she took the wrong decision to leave the kids alone I wouldn't report her this time otherwise go head and report her, it might happen again
good luck !
2007-06-30 09:24:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't think the kid's parents should have been sued. I think the driver should have been.
2007-06-30 11:47:44 · answer #10 · answered by God: The Failed Hypothesis 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋