CASE STUDY – Critical
Thinking
ORRIN BROWN, 16, died of
injuries sustained in a crash on Route 28 early Tuesday morning. Brown
led police on a 10-mile chase that ended in his death at 4 a.m. The angry
mother of the dead teen-ager said the policeman should not have been pursuing
him.
State Trooper FRANK APPLELTON
said he began following the driver of a blue van when it veered over the center
line on Route 28 going about 45 mph, five mph below the speed limit. When
he turned around and began following the van, the vehicle began to accelerate
steadily with the officer in pursuit, Appleton said. The 10 mile chase ended on
a hairpin curve near Millersville.
Police had placed tire-deflating
devices on Route 28 just west of Millersville, but the van never reached the
road block. The vehicle flipped over while negotiating a sharp curve,
rolled over two or three times, hit a utility pole, and Brown was killed
instantly. Police estimate his speed at the time of the crash at 55-60
mph. The boy was wearing a seat belt, according to police.
The chase angered the teenager’s
mother. “I want to know why the police were chasing Orrin in the first
place,” said ELAINE BROWN, 36. “They’re on that road every day,
and they know it has a lot of bad curves. Once they had his license
number, all they had to do was come to our house and wait for Orrin to come
home. Instead they chased him to his death. The police killed my
son as sure as if they’d shot him.”
Officer Frank Appleton said that State
Police policy requires patrol cars to pursue any vehicle that appears to pose a
risk to other drivers. “That van crossed the center line. When you see
that, you immediately suspect a drunk driver. If we don’t pursue him and
he kills someone, then the public wants to know why we didn’t get him off the
roads.”
Neighbors of the dead youth said they
weren’t surprised that he was out driving the family van at 4 a.m. on a school
night. One neighbor who wished to remain anonymous said, “Elaine Brown
doesn’t care about that kid. He’s been running loose since he was ten
years old, but he’s not a bad kid. If she had exerted a little more discipline
over him he’d still be alive today. What mother lets her 16-year-old stay
out on a school night until 4 in the morning? And what was she doing letting
him drive all over the place when he’d only gotten his driver’s license last
week? That kid was an accident waiting to happen. They ought to throw the
mother in jail.”
A spokesperson for The National Traffic
Safety Board reported that nationally six other vans of the same model
have flipped over in the past 12 months while negotiating a sharp curve and
three other people have been killed in these accidents. When told of
these statistics, Elaine Brown said that the MANUFACTURER OF THE VAN was
as guilty of her son’s death as the police. “I’m going to get a good
lawyer and sue them both,” Mrs. Brown said. “Someone’s going to pay for
my son’s death.”
* * * * *
Mrs. Brown sued
the state police and the manufacturer of the van for $1,000,000. If you
were on the jury, how much money (if any) would you award Mrs. Brown?
Write in the spaces below the amounts (if any) you would require each of
the defendants to pay Mrs. Brown. Be prepared to explain your
decision.
Premises:
- - Because of manufacture possible problem the accident happened, also the mother blamed the police about following her son too fast ( in a dangerous road ).
- - Because police had a reason to stop him because he was driving badly.
- Because the boy was a new driver. He was only 16 years old.
- Because the mother wanted to blame the police and do not blame her self.
Therefore
the mother was guilty because she let her son to drive a car at 4:00 am while
he is only a new driver with 16 years old
