Why ICON Has Responsibility In His Death
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dougbush
Who among us doubts that manufacturers are frequently sued because of deep pockets even though they did not contribute to the accident? Seems perfectly rational for a manufacturer to seek to avoid liability when they are not at fault.
First of all, agree. Manufacturer get sued because they have deep pockets.
However, getting sued and losing are two different things.
They lose when they are found to be in "the line of causality". If you have deep pockets, I can, indeed, sue you for having a package on the FedEx jet that crashed into my house.
But I won't win unless I can prove your package was in the line of causality. Like you illegally shipping batteries that then exploded, cause a fire and a crash. If your package was a bunch of paper that is not in the line of causality.
So liability has nothing to do with deep pockets. It has to do with your role in contributing to what happened.
Take a look at ICON's promotional video. Roy was flying the plane EXACTLY the way it's promoted in the videos. Low and fast. [Because legally you can fly low and fast on floats in many areas.] As Roy apparently stated publicly;he'd enjoyed flying it "like a fighter". Nothing gives you the fighter feel more than flying low and the ground speeding by. However, also where you have no reaction time.
How many instructors encourage you to roll into a bank immediately after breaking ground with your wingtip about 3' off the ground??? It is part of one of Icon's promotional video
Sadly, Roy was killed using the ICON much like the product is promoted in many of their promotional videos. Killing yourself using the product one one of the way it's promoted? That costs you a TON of money as manufacturer. Car companies get sued if they show a car racing around curves and don't put a disclaimer on their commercial that says "Professional driver on closed course." so they are clear that is NOT the way the car should be operated. Icon never did any of that.
Not a lawyer but took a couple courses on product liability at a Big Ten law school. I think if his wife gets just an average lawyer, Icon's promotional videos will probably cause a jury to give her a massive settlement. Those videos put Icon right in the line of causality because of how Hawkins promoted the product to be used. Exactly the way Roy killed himself with it. [Assuming there was no mechanical issue.]