Absolutely Ridiculous Lawsuit

Dallas Police Senior Cpl. Victor Lozada died in a motorcycle accident on Feb. 22, 2008. He was participating in a motorcade escorting then candidate Hillary Clinton to a campaign stop. He was the only one involved, his bike hit a curb and threw him into a concrete barrier. He died instantly. It was a tragedy.

Anyone who has read this blog knows I am no Clinton fan. However, her behaviour in the aftermath of the tragedy was admirable. She cancelled her campaign event, and went to the hospital to give her condolences to the family. She was genuinely shaken when interviewed that day.

Victor Lozada's family has just announced a bevy of lawsuits in response to the accident. The defendants:

Hillary Clinton, and her campaign staff - for not giving the city of Dallas adequate notice of the campaign event.

The Dallas Police Department - for knowlingly allowing Lozada to participate in the motorcade even though he had supposedly done poorly in his motorcycle training, AND for not having supervisors make certain that each and every rider had driven the motorcade route ahead of time.

SuperSeer, the officer's helmet manufacturer, because the force of Lozada hitting the concrete barrier broke the chinstrap of the helmet.

The City of Dallas, for delays in its 911 service that caused a short delay in arrival of an ambulance (even though he died on impact).

The family's lawyer insists that the lawsuits are only so that the underlying issues are brought to light and resolved. No mention has been made as to the monetary damages they are seeking, and from which defendants.

If the lawyer's statement is true, then the remedies sought by the lawsuit will be limited to correction of the situations the family feel are wrong. If the lawyer is full of crap, then the family will be looking for money from everyone. My personal opinion is that they are flinging a wide net with the lawsuits, hoping that someone will cave and try to settle before it goes to court.

It will be interesting to see if his statement is true, or if this is just an attempted money grab by Lozada's relatives.