Ridiculous lawsuits:
1. Man Sues Family of Boy He Ran Over (2008): Spanish businessman Tomas Delgado sued the family of the 17-year-old boy he'd hit and killed for the damage that the boy's body did to his Audi. Delgado was speeding at the time, but since the boy was cycling alone at night without reflectors or a helmet, the driver wasn't charged. Under public pressure, he later dropped his lawsuit.
2. Mayor of Batman, Turkey, Sues Batman (2008): The mayor of a city in Turkey called Batman sued Warner Brothers and The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan for using the name without permission. Either it took the town's residents 70 years to realise the superhero's existence or they just wanted to cash in on The Dark Knight's billion-dollar box office take.
3. Girls Sued for Baking Cookies (2005): Two teenage girls in Durango, Colorado decided to bake cookies for their neighbours. They packaged the baked treats in plastic wrap with a heart-shaped message wishing the recipients a good night. But when they knocked at the door of Wanita Renea Young, the woman became so terrified that someone was outside her house at 10.30pm that she suffered an anxiety attack and successfully sued the girls for US$930 to cover a trip to the emergency room. Her request for money to cover pain and suffering was denied.
(Source: www.paralegaltraining.net)
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A reader writes: "On Friday March 13, I was on an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Dunedin, leaving Auckland at 7.10pm. The plane arrived at Dunedin, taxied along the runway when the pilot hit the brakes rather suddenly. I had to put my arm out to steady myself and to stop my upper body being flung forward. The pilot announced over the PA system that 'he'd like to explain what had happened. A bunny rabbit (his words) was on the runway and he braked to avoid it. We would be pleased to know the bunny rabbit had got away.' Several passengers did the 'oh how sweet thing' sighing with approval. My response was a little different. Why would a pilot risk the safety of his passengers to save a known pest? It just highlighted to me that some people are bright some of the time."
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See today's Herald cartoon
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