Exactly one year after a car struck Revelle sophomore Mariana Flores as she entered Interstate-5 during the election night protests, Flores’ attorney filed a personal injury and property damage lawsuit against UC San Diego and several other entities. According to the complaint submitted to the San Diego Superior Court last Wednesday, Flores suffered wage loss, loss of earning capacity, hospital and medical expenses, general damage, property damage, and loss of personal property as a result of the incident.She wants me, a taxpayer, to give her money because of her own stupidity. It's someone else's responsibility to keep her from doing something that any 4 year old, not to mention a university student, knows to be unsafe? To steal from Hall & Oates, "I can't go for that, no can do."
The protests during which Flores was injured began shortly after Donald Trump was announced the projected winner of the 2016 election. Students living in all six colleges gathered on Library Walk and spread throughout campus, chanting criticisms of the president-elect as they moved. The protest then spilled off-campus near the freeway, where demonstrators walked onto the interstate.
As an emergency vehicle was attempting to shut down Interstate-5 by driving in an “S” formation across the southbound lanes, the driver hit Flores, crushing her pelvis, fracturing her leg, and causing other serious injuries.
Flores’ attorney Gene Sullivan informed the UCSD Guardian that due to the nature of her injuries, Flores’ medical bills over the course of her life will be in the millions of dollars, so he and his client hope that the university will offer assistance in covering the costs.
The lawsuit, which also names the UC Board of Regents, the City and County of San Diego, the State of California, and the driver of the vehicle as defendants, states that the protest was organized by the university and that UCSD is responsible for failing to end the demonstration.
“Plaintiff was participating in a citizen protest that had been organized by the University of California, San Diego and/or the University of California Regents,” the complaint reads. “The protest continued all over campus for hours and was never stopped, controlled, or refrained by the County of San Diego, City of San Diego, State of California, University of California Regents or the University of California, San Diego.”
Sullivan explained that there are a number of people culpable for the accident, including Flores herself, but because the university is partially responsible, it is also partially responsible for the harms and damages...
Because I'm such a bright and cheerful guy, one who always looks on the bright side of things, I can of course see a silver lining. If her suit survives, goes to trial, and she actually wins, perhaps our universities will be less likely in the future to tolerate these kinds of activities.
Stupid should hurt. I wonder if this is the first time in her life Flores is learning that lesson.
Some commenter on the Facebook post pointed out that students would've sued the school if they prevented them from protesting, so there's definitely a lose lose situation here.
ReplyDeleteHoping the judge has some common sense, but there's the potential argument that the student leaders that incited them have partial responsibility (not that I agree with said argument)
At some point, if we can charge someone over the age of 14 for murder, then we have to assume that college students are not babies and can manage their own lives. As such, if you choose to block a highway or walk on a highway while high or protesting in front of moving traffic-you've made a choice to put yourself in harm's way. Liberals are big on women being able to choose what happens to their bodies. This woman chose to be an idiot and got hit by a vehicle. It was her choice.
ReplyDelete