Boston (SmartAboutHealth) - The California Supreme Court has ruled that a woman who saved her co-worker from a car crash is liable for damages caused to her friend.
The California Supreme Court ruled that an emergency rescue such as this should be done by a trained professional.
The woman, Lisa Torti Northridge saved her co-worker Alexandra Van Horn as she pulled her from a car crash on Halloween in 2004.
Van Horn reportedly suffered injuries though as she states she was pulled from the car “like a rag doll.”
She is now a paraplegic due to the accident, and wants to hold Torti liable.
The Supreme Court was divided in this case, as 3 of the 7 judges believed this ruling would discourage people from trying to save others when in an emergency.
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Gee I wonder why everyone is so quick to turn a blind eye to the troubles of others…. Just remember everyone, if you see a burning building or a car wreck, its probably wise to just point and stare. Yeah, she sustained irreversible damage, probably due to the way she was removed from the wreckage, but to be so vindictive as to attack your saviour….. its the death of the “Good Samaritan” and the birth of the “Kind Hearted Sucker”. If I see an auto wreck, dont ask me to do anything more than shout encouraging words.
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Whatever happend to Good Samaritan laws? Don’t they protect people from these sort of incidencies? I mean, this is a poorly written story in that we don’t see any details, such as did the friend cause the crash; in that event then the friend would be liable. Also, if the woman pulled from the wreck was in a life threatening situation, such as the car was on fire or bleeding profusely, etc., the rescuer should not be held liable. If however, the rescued friend was simply trapped and trained rescuers were en route and would have reached her in time, then I guess there wouldn’t be much sense to pull her from the car. In any event, time to reassess my own friends. To any selfish folks who would try to get rich off of others, hope your not trapped in your car or otherwise in need of aid because now someone might not save you.