Lawsuits
Scenario:
One windy Sunday afternoon in October, Susan decided to take a 3 mile bicycle ride in preparation for her upcoming triathlon. While she usually rides along an isolated bike path through the woods, on this particular day she decided to take the narrow bike path on the highway, thinking that the wind would less likely effect her performance if she rode on an open road. There was usually minimal to no traffic congestion on the highway on Sunday afternoons, so Susan was more convinced that her decision was the right one.
At 3:07 PM, as Susan peddled onto the entrance ramp of the highway, she didn’t notice the yield sign in front of her and merged immediately onto traffic without paying attention to the cars that were behind her. Suddenly, a 2021 red Toyota Camry zoomed by at 85 miles per hour and hit the back wheel of Susan’s bicycle, causing her and the driver of the Toyota to roll off to the side of the highway. Susan sustained severe head and neck injuries, broken ribs and broken legs but survived the accident. Larry the driver luckily suffered only minor cuts and bruises, but his car was completely damaged due to the incident. Susan’s attorney discovered that Larry was driving 30 miles above the 55 m.p.h. speed limit.
Susan sued Larry in State civil court and Larry counterclaimed against Susan.
Analyze the issues in both lawsuits. What are the questions to be litigated and what are the potential outcomes? How did you arrive at your analysis? Remember to use IRAC in your analysis. In addition this scenario takes place in New York.
