Originally Posted by
sailingfun
These types of awards happen all the time. Juries get out of control and award millions to people who order hot coffee and then try and drive and spill it. You hear about the huge awards. The reductions in the awards to pennies on the dollar that occur by judges later on don't make the news.
Yes, it is called mandated caps and it is part of the tort reform battle cry. It is not a good thing for you or me. It is all about money and who controls our government and our judicial system. If you have HBO or get a chance in a hotel on a layover this is a great documentary:
HBO: Hot Coffee: Home
And the old lady that spilled coffee was not driving, she was parked. She had large third degree burns on her legs and almost died. McDonalds refused to even help pay the medical bills, at the time they had hundreds of complaints of their coffee cups and the their coffee being excessively hot. You only hear the story about out of control juries and money hungry victims because that is how the tort reformist, big business (Chamber of Commerce) and media spin the story.