Boar crash case begins

A pig crossing sign on Highway 1 south of Carmel alerts motorists to an area where pigs are known to cross the road.

[CA in Monterey]

Hmmm... Sounds to me like a drunk driver with a chip on his shoulder seeks someone else to blame and pay for his own irresponsible actions. Get real! Even if he was sober, animals cross roads all the time. Who would he try to sue if he'd hit a deer? I'm guessing he'd try to sue someone. And who pays for this frivolous legal battle? We the tax payers. That just ticks me off.

[Joshgb]

Please tell me this is an April Fool's Day story running a month too early. I have been saying for years that CalTrans ought to place an east to west fence across the road at the Odello Field. This would solve a lot of problems by prohibiting irresponsible motorists from migrating from Carmel down the coast where a veritable "cornucopia" of expensive resorts and roadside turnouts lead them into irresponsible and obnoxious behavior.

[cvkathy]

Making snide swine comments regarding a person who will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life is cruel. The fact is, the wild boar were NOT crossing the road before the west side was naturalized.

Shame on Smith for stooping to that level. And shame on the rest of you for your unkind comments.

You have no idea what this man has been through. I also deplore frivolous lawsuits. This isn't one of them.

[Susie Q]

This action is about the states failure to address an issue pertaining to the safety of citizens rather than environmentalists disregard for the welfare of people. When the stat is made aware of a danger to citizens made by its actions it is responsible for consequences of its inaction. Simple enough.

[Sheriff Ed Tom Bell]

Who was here first? The kickboxing drunk or the boars? Anyone who drives drunk in the middle of night on Highway 1 should automatically be at fault.

[The Bull]

Where is the common sense here? This guy doesn't deserve 1 dime of taxpayer money, but a bleeding heart jury will probably give it to him. What happened to personal responsibility>

[cvkathy]

Where is the proof that he was drunk?

[I approve this comment]

Our tax dollars are being wasted. The judge should force both sides to come to a settlement... and no lawyers should receive a dime.

[Monterey Resident]

I feel sorry for the boar. It's dead.

[frank]

what if it was a cat or a dog or a deer?

[Ocean View]

frank wrote:

what if it was a cat or a dog or a deer?

or a child, or an elephant. It wasn't. It was a boar. Attracted to an area that it hadn't been found in before. That's the point. The state's action or inaction created a road hazard that was reasonably foreseeable, as evidenced by no dead boars before the new environment was created by the state and plenty of dead boar strikes by vehicles afterwards.

Redirecting wildlife to "wildlife underpasses" or overpasses has been part of Caltrans' operations for years in order to enhance traffic safety issues. If some of the posters here need a more compelling hypothetical scenario, rather than blaming the motorcyclist for his own injuries, consider what the the consequences could have been had he successfully dodged the boar while driving a car and instead hit another car head on with even more tragic results. Would the legal question of responsibility for creating the hazard be any less compelling?

[Ocean View]

I approve this comment wrote:

Our tax dollars are being wasted. The judge should force both sides to come to a settlement... and no lawyers should receive a dime.

This is a civil case. As such, the non-prevailing party typically pays all court costs. Apparently the state agency being sued (and it's liability insurance carrier?) feels that their case has merit and should be defended. The alternative is to negotiate the civil suit out of court and agree to a settlement.

A judge can't force people to negotiate or settle (that would be like forcing a 4-year-old to say "I'm sorry" when they're not); remember, "America does not torture." By the way, in actuality, requiring the loser to pay court costs and attorneys fees is one of the possible measures that typically discourages frivolous lawsuits (consider it as adding insult to injury), and a judge can dismiss the case if it is without merit, which it apparently is.

The system was set up so that legitimately aggrieved people (or not) wouldn't feel compelled to resort to extralegal means (arson, murder, posting embarrassing pictures on YouTube) of retribution against a defendant. Just be glad that the Boar family isn't seeking compensation as well for the state's having created an attractive nuisance. I wouldn't want to hear the testimony of Mrs. Boar regarding the loss of conjugal privileges due to Mr. Boar's untimely demise.

[Harry Shaw]

Hog Wash I say! I have been in law enforcement; a motor cop; drunk (blackout) on a bike; hunted wild boar and I feel sorry for this so called macho man Karate Kid but when your on a bike you are vunerable to anything.
I am also handicapped and I don't blame anybody for my disabilities. What I want to know where you idiots came up with a strain of hogs from Asia. Those hogs are now feral no doubt now but the ones you mention are Imperial Russian Boar that escaped from (forgot the name)a Carmel Valley ranch not far from the Odelo ranch.
Maybe my buddy Pete Scardina and other friend Nesson Schmidt out of the South County area could shed some light on wild boar hunting and idiots like the biker and lawyers trying to grub hunt around the sueee suee sue everybody game.

[Native]

Aren't there better outlets than to drive in an area with posted signs of wild animals.... I ain't driving my motorcycle at 1:00 a.m. in the morning and wanting someone else to fund my freak accident with nature.

[WAKE UP]

people like this make me sick...i am so sorry it was the pig that died

[Ocean View]

Native wrote:

Aren't there better outlets than to drive in an area with posted signs of wild animals.... I ain't driving my motorcycle at 1:00 a.m. in the morning and wanting someone else to fund my freak accident with nature.

The signs didn't go up until after the accident. Perhaps that's an indication of a sense of responsibility to at least address a serious concern.

[Ocean View]

WAKE UP wrote:

people like this make me sick...i am so sorry it was the pig that died

I hope that you recover soon from your illness. Your compassion seems boundless.

[Loco de la Guerra]

Well let's see...
looks like public sentiment is running strongly (11-3) against the irresponsible kickboxing drunk and his money-hungry scumbag attorney...
How the hell did Obama get elected??

[Ocean View]

Loco de la Guerra wrote:

Well let's see...
looks like public sentiment is running strongly (11-3) against the irresponsible kickboxing drunk and his money-hungry **** attorney...
How the hell did Obama get elected??

Well, that's one way of looking at it. Another is that the sentiment is running strongly for irresponsible governmental management, which is what the American people were tired of and why they elected a competent manager to succeed Bush. Me, I'm just here because I pass those signs every day on my way to and from work and now I know why they are there.

[GEMSTONE]

Wow .. He's got it in for the city. That will take care of him and the wife, should he win