(EDITOR’S NOTE: Former Monterey Park Mayor, G. Monty Manibog is regular columnist offering legal tips and perspectives in high profile legal cases and event.)
Can a welcome and friendly kiss be the basis of a lawsuit? Joe and Joyce worked for the same company, and they would often car pool. They were also friends and dated occasionally. On the drive home, one day, Joe, having received a promotion and pay raise, couldn’t contain his joy and, approaching an intersection, leaned over to kiss Joyce and, as a result, his vehicle was “smacked” by another car, resulting in fractured ribs, a broken leg and a cerebral concussion to Joyce.
When Joyce sued, Joe argued, “she can’t do this because she was a non-paying passenger. The accident was unintentional, the kiss was inoffensive and welcomed and it was an act of friendship.”
“That may be so,” shot back Joyce’s lawyer, “but when he kissed my client while entering the intersection, that was gross negligence and he must pay for her injuries.”
In agreement, the court held that regardless of Joe’s lack of intent to do harm, that was a costly kiss and awarded Joyce all of her medical bills and loss of income (special damages) and a tidy sum to compensate for her “pain, suffering and inconvenience” (general damages).
By his friendly but careless demeanor, Joe’s driving fell below the “standard of care” required by law of all motorists for the safety of others on the highway. That momentary inattention started a “chain of causation” providing the “proximate” or legal cause (primary collision factor) of the accident and injuries were “foreseeable,’ a litmus test in negligence cases.
The moral of this case is to drive with your eyes on the road at all times and to contain your passion and exuberance until you’re safely parked.
Steps to take when involved in an accident: (1) Call “911” for help; (2) make a police report if necessary; (3) identify all parties involved, their vehicles and any possible witnesses; (4) if you are also injured, or your passengers are injured, you should seek medical attention right away; and (5) do not speak to strangers who may approach you unless they are genuine witnesses or good Samaritans wanting to help and not “ambulance chasers” looking for a case.
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Manibog & Manibog Law offices are regular columnists offering legal tips and perspectives in high profile legal cases and events. Monty is a former mayor of Monterey Park and Darren is former president of the Phil-Am Bar Association.
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