For the strava types among us

[AlW]

http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2012/05/s ... trategies/

[AlW]

Wow.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/06/ ... ath_224889

Not sure how Strava can be liable for an accident.

Perhaps there are some lawyer types (you know who you are) who can enlighten us further.

Edit: Related post from the Inner Ring - http://inrng.com/2012/06/strava-lawsuit-california/

[Rolf]

Some interesting facts about the California state bar (cherry-pickedfrom Wikipedia in a self-serving and misleading manner):

• 1. It is the largest state bar association in the U.S. with 235,000 members (that's a lotta lawyers looking to make a living!)
  2. California is currently the only state that does not use either set of professional responsibility rules developed by the American Bar Association.
  3. California has the only state bar that operates its own court, staffed by judges who specialize only in handling professional responsibility cases on a full-time basis.

Take from all of that what you will. I think the point I'm trying to make is that California is a fertile jurisdiction for expanding liability for negligence. Our current laws have been significantly shaped by lawyers over the years and in many different jurisdictions taking fliers on files that may appear spurious at first glance.

But keep in mind the articles you linked only consider allegations set out in pleadings filed by the aggrieved family -- and not an actual finding of liability on the part of Strava. Lawsuits without merit are filed everywhere, all the time -- in jurisdictions with far better reputations than California. With the ease of sharing legal documents over the internet, I see a lot of blogs and web-news sites getting fussed over crazy, overblown filings. While it's great to have more people involved and thinking about legal process, I think the only time we should really pay attention and journalists (web or otherwise) should give a toss, is when the judgments start getting crazy.

[John D]

Interesting stuff (seriously). Now, if only anybody could come up with a pressing question about plankton, I could repay the favour.

J.