John Gettis wrote:
>Perhaps the real reason is that Canada and Mexico are not "infected" by as
>many lawyers who in America lie in wait to help people sue in any given
>situation the party who has the most money even if they are not at fault.
>Just a personal opinion John
>
>
In the case of Mexico, and the Americas South of the US in general, I
believe, their legal system is derived from the Napoleanic Code, rather
than English Common Law. The whole business of liability and torts is
wildly different than in the US. Can you imagine anything like the
Acapulco cliff diving going on in the US? No way the owners of the cliff
could survive the lawsuits. One broken neck and the relatives of the
diseased own the cliff and build a nice house with a view "to die for"
on it and a nice fence to keep others out.
I remember going to see the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica. You drive into
a rutted dirt parking lot and park wherever you like when ever you like,
no fence or gate. There was one sign, rather the worse for wear, which
said something like "This is a volcano. If you go closer or climb it,
you will be in danger from flowing lava and flying, very hot rocks. Have
Fun." Well, OK, I added the "Have Fun" part. We walked up close enough
to enjoy watching the lava flowing and the occasional red hot boulder
flying out and could occasionally feel the heat. I thought that was
close enough, but others passed by on their way closer.
I later asked a local about liability and lawsuits in such a situation.
He said he couldn't imagine anyone injured on the volcano even
considering trying a lawsuit as it would be thrown out of court. It is
assumed in law that people know about obvious dangers and have chosen to
take the risk, so the liability is theirs.
Last time I was on jury duty, it was a civil case. A young woman on a
bicycle was admittedly riding on the wrong side of the road and across a
busy driveway to a commercial establishment, something she did
regularly, when an middle aged women turning left legally into the
driveway on a busy street hit the cyclist. The cyclist was suing. The
lawyers and judge were going through amazing gyrations to get a jury
that excluded regular cyclists, on the one side, and anyone who might
think that someone intentionally and repeatedly riding dangerously and
illegally so as to be where no driver might expect them to be on a
bicycle in an area of heavy auto traffic might simply be responsible for
the consequences on the other. Fortunately, I didn't end up on that jury.
Moose
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