When lawsuits are brought forth, they usually name everyone and everything, that can have money. Even, if they are slightly involved. Lawyers go after the money. So, say your friend wrecks into a tree, is a paraplegic. He has a wife, kid, or is even a minor. The bills are mounting[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]who do you think is going to see a lawsuit? It's not worth it. Good luck

 

I have been reading laws of washington state so heavily i know em better than the police. and if a judge Goes by the written law under appropriate inerpretation if your not charging the person money to ride on your property your not liable. they can sue but they shouldnt get crap. You dont have a responsibility to see that your place is safe for them to ride. however if you charge them to ride you then become liable. and are required to mark hazards and so forth. its retarded. But with all the whacko judges we have in this country anything can happen. so look up the laws

 

Plain and simple, they could sue your father in law.. Hold harmless waivers aren't worth the paper they are printed on. If someone under legal age gets hurt on the property, it's up to their parents to sue, whether the kid wants to or not.


It's a sue happy world we live in. I'd have to side with your father in law on this one.

 

Something to consider wheter they can or cannot sue you. You'll still be paying to defend yourself from the suits. You never see ads for attorneys that will defend you for free, they're in it for the money, not friendship.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]It`s to bad we have to worry about law suits. Everyone is right, the waiver isn`t
worth the paper it`s written on. No one plans to sue, but if they get badly hurt and
the medical bills pile up, then they would consider it. Or maybe their spouse.
Just my 2 cents.

HAPPY TRAILS!

 

This thread makes me want to puke.

 

Ok, thanks for the info everyone, you've told me exactly what I didn't want to hear, but thems the breaks. We'll probably still ride over here some, but elsewheres too I guess. I'll have to find me some public trails around here or something.

 

I'm sure your father-in-law has a liability insurance policy that covers the property. You could offer to pay for an umbrella policy that would increase the coverage not only on the property, but also on vehicles, etc... You can pick up a 1 or 2 million dollar policy for next to nothing. jUst a thought.

 

"bad injuries make for bad law" ...an old saying from confuscious, or is it confusedbuyer. and what are Toyo and MD doing over on this thread? I thot they'd be blocked.

in other words, common sense law would be upheld in minor injury cases and you'd be safe, PLUS, buddies wouldn't sue for that. wheel in a brain damaged quadrapalegic into the courtroom that's droolinfg and being spoon fed, and suddenly the law gets obscured and someone has to pay. and it's ALWAYS assumed it'll be an insurance company and not an individual, in which case, who cares, hit 'em hard. BTW, the assumption is wrong in that the defendant often doesn't have adequate limits of coverage to pay the judgement, in which case the individual gets exposed to paying it out.

 

Seems to me that you are giving too little value to fact that it is not your land. It also appears that your father-in-law could not be too much of an a-hole or he would not be allowing you to live on his property anyway. You need to be working on improving relations with your father-in-law if you want to continue living with his daughter and living on his land. That relationship is much more important than furnishing riding spots for your friends.