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PaperclipPerfector  8d ago (text post)   2249 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 21, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Court opinion:

  • Elizabeth is driving a 2016 Honda CR-V at 50 miles per hour on a two-lane undivided road. She drifts over the centerline and hits an oncoming car, driven by Ann. Both Elizabeth and Ann are killed in the crash. Ann's estate sues Elizabeth's estate, and presumably extracts a large settlement.

  • Ann's estate also sues Honda. The estate's theory is that the CR-V counts as an unsafe vehicle, making Honda liable for the crash, because Honda failed to make "lane-departure warning" and "lane-keeping assist" technologies standard rather than optional in that vehicle.

  • The trial judge rejects this argument and dismisses the case, and the appeals panel affirms. A manufacturer does not have a duty to install every available safety-enhancing technology. The base 2016 CR-V has a steering system sufficient to enable the motorist to keep the vehicle in its lane, so it counts as "safe".

I like these court opinions that you (and others) post. For an outsider like me, it's nice to get some insight into how the legal system works and to not only be exposed to "activist judge did XXX" type cases.

Thanks :)

an outsider like me

Feel free to post opinions from your own country's judicial system.

I'm an outsider to the legal system, not to the US :)

So am I. You don't need to be a lawyer in order to find interesting court opinions.

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