Toxic Parents of Toxic Children Finally Held Accountable- Suing 4 Year Old For Running Over Elderly Woman With Bike, Who Died, Sends Strong Message

A while back I went to a theme park.  It was less than a pleasant experience based on the level of Toxic behavior  I consistently witnessed by Toxic Children who were undisciplined and allowed to act like wild animals by their Toxic Parents.

The rudeness and lack of consideration for others,  the way so many of these children spoke to their parents,  the fighting, the yelling and screaming, the  pushing and  shoving, and the complete  lack of discipline was rampant.

I was especially appalled when I observed two Toxic Children chasing one another and  crash into an elderly man. He fell to the ground. They saw him fall, yet they  didn’t even  care. They didn’t even stop to see if he was all right, let alone apologize to hum. They just continued chasing one another  and yelling, leaving a possibly injured man in their wake.

On another occasion I saw a pregnant woman who was resting on a bench with her legs outstretched. A rude little boy didn’t  even have the courtesy to say “excuse me” as he approached the woman. Instead he simply hopped over her legs. In doing so, he  tripped and fell on top of her what looked like an eight month pregnant belly. The pregnant woman let out a loud yelp and  the boy simply scurried away.

My first thoughts after observing these two separate incidents was where are the parents? Why are they allowing their children to be unsupervised and even worse, why didn’t they teach them any humanity or  basic manners ?  The lack of  respect and humanity  both angered and saddened me.

So when  NY Justice Wooten  ruled that a four year old can get sued for running over  an elderly lady on her bike with training wheels, I was thrilled.  Apparently, the woman  ended up requiring surgery as a result of this incident for a fractured hip  and later died as a result of the child’s negligence.

The ruling by the judge merely permitted a lawsuit brought against the girl and  another boy as well as their parents by the dead woman’s estate for the incident that happened in April 2009.

The two four year olds, Juliet Breitman and Jacob Kohn,  ( and yes I am stating their names as their names were stated in the press) were racing their bicycles, under the supervision of their mothers, Dana Breitman and Rachel Kohn, on the sidewalk of a building on East 52nd Street in Manhattan.

At some point in the race, they struck an 87-year-old woman named Claire Menagh, who was walking in front of the building on the sidewalk and, according to the complaint, was “seriously and severely injured,” suffering a hip fracture that required surgery. She died three months later.

Her estate sued the children and their mothers, claiming they had acted negligently during the accident.

Justice Wooten rejected a motion to dismiss the case because of the little girl, Juliet’s age, noting that she was three month shy of turning 5 when Ms. Menagh was struck, and thus old enough to be sued.  He said that even though the child’s mother was present,  the child should be held liable.  He wrote , “A parent’s presence alone does not give a reasonable child carte blanche to engage in risky behavior such as running across a street,”

He added that any “reasonably prudent child,” who presumably has been told to look both ways before crossing a street, should know that dashing out without looking is dangerous, with or without a parent there.”

I agree with him wholeheartedly. He went on to conclude that there was no evidence of  the child Juliet’s “lack of intelligence or maturity” or anything to “indicate that another child of similar age and capacity under the circumstances could not have reasonably appreciated the danger of riding a bicycle into an elderly woman.”

I say kudos to the judge. So now the child will have to deal with this matter as well as her mother. How could any mother allow a child to race a bike on a sidewalk in front of a building where people come and go?

Perhaps this  case will send a message to parents  nationwide to teach their children to have respect for others and show humanity.

One only has to wonder if the mothers or their children had the decency to go back and   help this injured woman who was no doubt lying on the ground and suffering in pain as a result of this unconscionable incident. At least this poor woman can now rest in peace knowing that justice will be served.  www.drlillianglass.com