Are we becoming sue-happy?
What has happened to logic when you can go to what is clearly an athletic event and disrupt it with foolish behaviour – and then sue the organisers?
Picture: iStock
We wonder if we are not becoming like sue-happy Americans in the way we run to the courts to punish someone else for our own negligence.
The Western Cape High Court has dismissed a R718 000 claim brought by a woman against top woman runner Christine Kalmer and Western Province Athletics (WPA). The suit followed a collision between Kalmer and the woman during a road race in Cape Town in 2014.
According to Kalmer, who was running at Olympic contender speed of around 20km/h, the woman stepped out into the road in front of her. Kalmer only had time to shout a brief warning before the two collided, leaving the woman with an injured leg.
The court ruled, correctly, that Kalmer and the WPA were not negligent because they could not have expected a spectator to move into the path of fast runners.
READ MORE: R700k lawsuit against Olympic athlete dismissed
The court also suggested the woman had done this after seeing other top athletes go past and she should have expected more competitors.
What has happened to logic when you can go to what is clearly an athletic event and disrupt it with foolish behaviour – and then sue the organisers?
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