$400,000 Settlement for Injured Pedestrian

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/cyclist-struck-by-ex-seattle-councilmember-sally-clark-to-get-400000-settlement/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_seattle-news

A city council member in Seattle whacked someone while riding her bicycle, and the case recently settled for $400,000.

Would that play out this way in North Carolina?  Hard to say.

First, with most bicyclist, there isn’t going to be much, if any, insurance that might cover it.  Homeowner’s Insurance might cover it, but that assumes they have it.

Second, if there isn’t any insurance, then most people riding bikes don’t have $400,000 to pay out.  But we might want to look out for one of those Lance Armstrong wannabes with their $5000 bikes.  That’s a start…

Finally, I think the only reason they were able to pull this much out of this case was that there was a governmental entity without immunity behind the tortfeasor.  In NC, governmental immunity might apply, which means you’d get $0.  Ick.

Eh.  That’s all I have this week.  I’ll try to make it more interesting next week.