Bus Stop
April 16th, 2007
Two women both in their 50s were sat on the bus when I boarded. The bus had had to stop suddenly as a car in front braked hard and although the bus had stopped well before the car in front of it, the two women had carried on.
The first woman was up and walking around, whinging about how the bus was going too fast, the bus should have been able to stop quicker (I didn’t see how that would have helped matters), the driver wasn’t paying attention etc, all the time showing off a very small cut to her knee to anyone who looked in her general direction.
Patient number two was a lot more calm and collected. According to eyewitnesses, she had “flown from her seat all the way to the front of the bus” and her head was bleeding. She said everything was fine, but the back of her head was stinging a little. On close examination, it turned out that her large sprung hair grip had become embedded in her scalp and a trip to hospital was in order to remove it.
Woman number one wanted to come too, but not before taking the bus driver’s details in order to make a complaint to the bus company. The police arrived and soon quelled the woman’s accusations of the driver being at fault. She then turned to me and asked for the insurance details of the ambulance service.
“Why do you want those?” I enquired, mystified as to what we had done as we had only just arrived.
“The car had to brake because an ambulance was coming down the road.” She replied.
“Did the ambulance make the car stop?” I continued.
“It had it’s blue lights on so the car stopped and the bus had to stop too.”
In my amazement at what had just been said, it took me a while to formulate a reply. “So you want to sue the ambulance service because they were driving to an emergency call? What happened was truly an accident; the car stopped because the driver was being considerate to an emergency vehicle - that’s the general reason we put blue lights and sirens on the vehicle.”
At this point the police stepped in and had another quiet chat to the woman. I let them explain that she really didn’t have a case against the ambulance service…
Entry Filed under: Work
4 Comments
1. Mr Mans Wife | April 17th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Oh my life. Some people just leave you speechless.
2. Dewi Morgan | April 17th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
My guess is she’s been taught that there is no longer such a thing as an “accident”, and that someone is always “responsible”. A burglar who injures himself having broken into someone’s shed, claimed against the householder’s insurance.. and won in court, setting the precedent: if an accident happens on your property, it’s you who has to pay. Police no longer call crashes “RTA” but “RTC” - “Accident” has been removed from their vocabulary, since cars are property, and if you injure someone with your property, your insurance has to pay.
The general feeling, even in courts, is that while accidents happen, there is in every accident a responsible entity against whom a compensation claim can be lodged. In a 2-car RTC there is generally a “responsible party” who pays from their insurance for all repairs to everyone involved.
This is “compensation culture”, and is a very large part of why businesses and drivers need to have legal insurance. Without it, if we get held responsible for someone’s clumsiness or stupidity, then we could lose everything.
3. Lucy | April 19th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Definitely an undiagnosed airway issue.
Every time she opens her mouth it ventilates the space her brain should have been.
Lucy
4. elizabeth | April 20th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
WOW…no wonder why we’re all going broke on insurance premiums, it’s for that woman that should’ve been diagnosed with verbal diahhrea (sp) instead.
Lover reading your blog!!
Always, From Chicago IL USA,
Crusty
http://www.crustybeef.blogspot.com