4-year-olds can be sued
 

4-year old children can be sued and held responsible in civil courts in the US now. This is crazy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/nyregion/29young.html

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

Using the same logic, the parents could sue the elderly woman's family for letting her wander around on the street by herself. Completely ridiculous.

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

Crazy US people :vikki: :p

The fault rests with the parents alone.

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So a four-year old can sued for negligence? I thought minors lacked a developed sense of reasoning and that's why they're not treated the same way as adults when it at the least comes to criminal cases.

Suing a 4-year old for running into you with their bike on the sidewalk? What has this world come to? Let me guess, the 4-year old should have been riding their bike on the street?

Dear old lady, put in your hearing aids and be aware of your surroundings. If you can't realize there's a kid on a bike coming in your direction, how are you supposed to be aware if a car or truck is coming at you? I don't want to hate on old people in general, because my grandmother is one of these almost completely oblivious senior citizens. Half the time she doesn't wear her hearing aids when she goes out, she doesn't look before crossing the street and expects the world to cater to her because she's in her eighties.

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

Really? So it's their fault that some old geezer who should've been in a nursing home stumbled in front of their kids bikes?

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I find that absolutely absurd; with the lack of 'intellectual' maturation, how would they know what they were doing? I swear, people are always in it for the money.

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What, so all elderly people should be confined to nursing homes?

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Geez, I swear, some of you make generalizations more than you suck air.

*c wut I did thar?

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

This is so absurd that it'll probably be changed later.

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

Well, in Australia, children under ten can't be held legally responsible for their own actions and they can't be legally sued or charged criminally until they're eighteen. Unless it's a special case which means they can be criminally charged when they're seventeen. Children under ten do not have the mental capacity to understand the implications and/or consequences of their own actions.
Likewise, the elderly woman probably should have kept an eye out, but we can't blame her for not doing so. Any reasonable person wouldn't expect to be run over on the sidewalk.

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I agree with Emii and nerd, Hopefully something will go through another court and they will be able to use the reasoning of the case to bring the law closer to Australia's in that matter.

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I don't really agree with that. My sister and cousins know when they do things that are very wrong. I'd say someone younger than 5 won't really know the difference, and even that is debatable.

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Now the economy really sucks.

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

I was speaking in general. The law for minors in Australia is that children under ten do not have the mental capacity, thus trying to sue them or charge them is virtually impossible in Australia. I didn't say that all children under ten don't understand what they're doing when they're doing something wrong. I didn't say that they didn't understand the consequences and implications. But the majority of children under ten cannot understand that. Plus, it all depends on their life experience. If they've been taught from an incredibly young age what is right, what is wrong and what could happen if they do certain things, that's different. But in the eyes of the law, children under ten cannot be criminally responsible for their own actions, therefore any lawsuits against a minor must be against the minor's parents instead.

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

This ruling is INSANE. A four year can't be held accountable for their actions. "reasonably prudent child," GIVE ME A BREAK.

If this is even debated, Ive lost all respect for the American justice system.

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

I can see it now...

"Where were you on the night of the 15th at exactly 2:34 PM?"

"Goo ga gee WHEEEEE HEEHEEHEE!"

"A likely story, You mean to tell me that you never struck this women with a bicycle?"

*little girl grabs the mans finger*

"Assault! security!"

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

No... death camps.;)

Any other wild generalizations you care to make?

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

WHen I heard about it I tohught it had to be some stunt or a joke, it's simply pathetic. (young) kids can't quite graph/forsee all the consequences of their actions or behaviour. Hence why in many countries they can't be held responsible (=trialed) below a certain age (say 10-12 years), and/or to a limited amount aslong as they aren't considered adults yet. In these cases the parents of the child would be "resposible" and would have to pay for damages caused etc. Although unless the parents told the kid to go and cross the street in the manner that she did, the parent's can't be held responsible for the accident either. It was an unfortunate accident and it's as simple as that... not?

Tazer! Tazer! Tazer!

Re: 4-year-olds can be sued
 

It wasn't a rhetorical question. I drew no conclusion from your statement, I simply inquired about something to get a clearer image of what the hell you're talking about. I misunderstood your post when I read it initially, which I perceived as you stating that all elderlies should be confined to a nursing home, not just this woman.

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Of course not. I never said ALL elderly people should be put in nursing homes. Just her. Let's also consider the fact that she died of unrelated causes 3 months later. Obviously she wasn't in the prime of health.

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I find this part of the article rather humourous:
Really? What kind of parent would honestly encourage a kid to run out in the middle of a street?
Oh, and why is the judge even talking about running in the middle of the street? The article says they were riding their bikes on the sidewalk. Which seems the most logical as well as safest place for a kid to ride their bike.

You can sue for anyone for anything nowadays...rather pathetic. :rolleyes: