Right to Opine

In yet another bizarre ruling, the California Supreme Court has ruled that a 1980 Good Samaritan law does not protect bystanders from lawsuits if they attempt to render non-medical aid in an emergency. The case in question involves a young lady who pulled her friend from a crashed car which she thought was about to catch fire and explode. The rescue effort aggravated a spinal injury, causing partial paralysis. One of the more clear-thinking judges responded:

“One who dives into swirling waters to retrieve a drowning swimmer can be sued for incidental injury he or she causes while bringing the victim to shore, but is immune for harm he or she produces while thereafter trying to revive the victim,” Baxter wrote for the dissenters. “Here, the result is that defendant Torti has no immunity for her bravery in pulling her injured friend from a crashed vehicle, even if she reasonably believed it might be about to explode.”

But the majority opinion is that you should just watch someone drown, die in a car fire, etc., rather than risk injuring them while saving their life. You really have to admire the logic in that. Just one more reason I’ll never move to the Left Coast.

In yet another bizarre ruling, the California Supreme Court has ruled that a 1980 Good Samaritan law does not protect bystanders from lawsuits if they attempt to render non-medical aid in an emergency.