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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:53 pm
by mrchad9
Gary Schenk wrote:
mrchad9 wrote:
Luciano136 wrote:
Gary Schenk wrote:If those guys had an accident, they would have sued the state, you can bet. And they would have won, no doubt, on the grounds that the barricades were not good enough to keep them out.


That's the biggest joke I ever heard! You trespass and can sue, wtf?! Sweet, so this weekend, I'll go ride my bike on ACH, run off the side and collect some money LOL

I'm looking forward to some shenanigans myself where roadwork is being done on I-580 nearby. I'm tired of the state not giving me money.


I came close to being killed on I-5 by drunk driving through a closure one night. I did not find it amusing. Unfortunately for him, neither did the CHP.

An unfortunate occurance, that luckily ended the way it did. But again, nothing remotely close to what these fellows did.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:53 pm
by fatdad
Luciano136 wrote:
Gary Schenk wrote:If those guys had an accident, they would have sued the state, you can bet. And they would have won, no doubt, on the grounds that the barricades were not good enough to keep them out.


That's the biggest joke I ever heard! You trespass and can sue, wtf?! Sweet, so this weekend, I'll go ride my bike on ACH, run off the side and collect some money LOL


I find that contention doubtful. Under different circumstances, there may be a failure to maintain claim or failure to warn, but not where someone's gone around a clearly marked barrier.

People have odd notions of what you can and can't successfully litigate.

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:40 am
by Augie Medina
fatdad wrote:
Luciano136 wrote:
Gary Schenk wrote:If those guys had an accident, they would have sued the state, you can bet. And they would have won, no doubt, on the grounds that the barricades were not good enough to keep them out.


That's the biggest joke I ever heard! You trespass and can sue, wtf?! Sweet, so this weekend, I'll go ride my bike on ACH, run off the side and collect some money LOL


I find that contention doubtful. Under different circumstances, there may be a failure to maintain claim or failure to warn, but not where someone's gone around a clearly marked barrier.


Agree.

Bruno, it isn't as easy as people are often led to believe. Sometimes, a defendant will settle a very weak claim for a nuisance value just to avoid the costs of lengthy litigation. I would imagine CalTrans has done this at times, although I also suspect that is not its general practice. Otherwise, generally speaking, it is not easy to prosecute a claim in the courts, even a good claim, win a big judgment, protect the judgment on appeal, and then finally collect on that judgment.

You sometimes read in the papers about a multimillion dollar verdict that someone has just won. But you never hear about the verdict getting appealed, and the appellate court either reversing the verdict or else reducing the amount of the judgment considerably.

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:55 am
by Luciano136
Mountain Impulse wrote:You sometimes read in the papers about a multimillion dollar verdict that someone has just won. But you never hear about the verdict getting appealed, and the appellate court either reversing the verdict or else reducing the amount of the judgment considerably.


That's what I figured. Only sensation sells...

PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:49 pm
by mrchad9
TacoDelRio wrote:I see more similarities than differences between Motorcyclists and Mountaineers.

Drivers/riders, climbers, and bicyclists always seem to hate each other. We're all the same.

Not that I've been heavily involved in all those three worlds or anything.

I've done hiking and bicycling. Whenever doing one you can see why the other is truely the most despicable.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:42 am
by Augie Medina
mrchad9 wrote:
I've done hiking and bicycling. Whenever doing one you can see why the other is truely the most despicable.


How true. I love mountain biking but the first time I was hiking up a trail and a biker came barreling around a blind corner at warp speed and almost hit me, besides yelling at him to learn how use the trail I was thinking "f###ing mountain bikers."

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 3:58 am
by Ze
TacoDelRio wrote:
"Hey, that asshole on the bicycle is in the middle of the road!"
"Hey, that asshole in his car is crossing the double yellows!"

:wink:


1st - legal
2nd - illegal

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 4:02 am
by Ze
mrchad9 wrote:I've done hiking and bicycling. Whenever doing one you can see why the other is truely the most despicable.


i road cycle so not really interaction with hikers. i find a decent % cyclists to be douchebags. i'm sure they are fine people in person, but behavior on a bike is pretty bad.

hikers can also be incompetent, but I don't see as many things from them that make me think, 'what the hell are you doing' when I'm on a trail.

mountain bikers I don't see much. if I do and they don't cede way on the trail, I give them a stiff shoulder and knock them on their ass.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:55 pm
by mrchad9
Ze wrote:hikers can also be incompetent, but I don't see as many things from them that make me think, 'what the hell are you doing' when I'm on a trail.

You didn't see this then!!!

Image

Photo from Vitaliy M

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:24 pm
by Tom Kenney
mrchad9 wrote:
Ze wrote:hikers can also be incompetent, but I don't see as many things from them that make me think, 'what the hell are you doing' when I'm on a trail.

You didn't see this then!!!

Photo from Vitaliy M



Those are 'sand shoes' - they are often used in conjunction with a 'sand axe.' :P

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:44 pm
by Tom Kenney
TacoDelRio wrote:
Ze wrote:
TacoDelRio wrote:
"Hey, that asshole on the bicycle is in the middle of the road!"
"Hey, that asshole in his car is crossing the double yellows!"

:wink:


1st - legal
2nd - illegal


Both = unsafe regardless of a court ruling.


In sailing, there's something called the 'Law of Gross Tonnage' - just because your 16-ft Hobie Cat has the right-of-way, you probably shouldn't try to argue the point with a cargo ship.

PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:15 pm
by Ze
on nice mountain roads where people can't see you until the last second, I agree. but roads with parked cars or little / crappy shoulder, it's better to be in the middle.

Re: Angeles Crest - The Aftermath of the Station Fire

PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 3:32 pm
by Rob
An interesting thing in the Times, shows how theyr'e fixing the road....
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... .htmlstory

No info on when it will be open though :?

Re:

PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 4:55 pm
by goldenhopper
Luciano136 wrote:But people passing the road closed sign to hike and ride their bicycle is ok? While I don't think their decision was very smart, no one should be pointing fingers just because they hate on bikers. Most people on this site would probably do the same to hike and bike... Same thing...


This is a very good point and I'm sure has enhanced the distain of their actions for some here. Still, I agree with Gary on this. These guys buzz around at high speeds up there and they have no idea where or when there are going to be workers in the road, possibly around a blind corner. If you're bold enough to go past the barricade and use it like a bridge, you're likely to make another unsafe judgment once inside.

No doubt they would be able to sue in California. I once read about a guy who sued the city of LA after falling though a section of roof that was under construction during a robbery attempt.

Re: Re:

PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 7:49 pm
by fatdad
NancyHands wrote:
Luciano136 wrote:But people passing the road closed sign to hike and ride their bicycle is ok? While I don't think their decision was very smart, no one should be pointing fingers just because they hate on bikers. Most people on this site would probably do the same to hike and bike... Same thing...


This is a very good point and I'm sure has enhanced the distain of their actions for some here. Still, I agree with Gary on this. These guys buzz around at high speeds up there and they have no idea where or when there are going to be workers in the road, possibly around a blind corner. If you're bold enough to go past the barricade and use it like a bridge, you're likely to make another unsafe judgment once inside.

No doubt they would be able to sue in California. I once read about a guy who sued the city of LA after falling though a section of roof that was under construction during a robbery attempt.


I disagree. One, I can tell you don't ride. While riders enjoy descents, no one, absolutely no one has an interest in crashing at 40 mph wearing nothing but lycra. If you rode, you'd know that.

Two, if I had a nickel every time I heard an apocryphal story about lawyers and bogus lawsuits...Of course they would be able to sue. You could sue someone because you didn't like the color of shirt he's wearing. Would the case get dismissed almost immediately? Yes. Would you get anything? No. End of story.