BUS 125 GC Business Raising the Legal Issue of Negligence Questions

Ronnie, an engineer in San Diego,  needs a new car. He stops by Marcus Auto, a car dealer in El Cajon.  He falls in love with a 2012 Ford Mustang with 5,010 miles on the odometer. Kelly Blue Book values the car at $14,800.  Ronnie offers $14,500, and Marcus accepts.

Ronnie is driving through Pacific Beach 10 miles over the speed limit on a sunny Sunday afternoon..  Coming the other direction on an ebike, beer in hand, is MMA fighter Jake Paul.  Jake, visiting from Arizona, is celebrating an endorsement deal with Tria At-Home laser hair removal system.   Jake  makes an illegal left turn, crashes into Ronnie’s car, flies across the hood, breaking the windshield.

Ronnie exits his car to give aid to Jake. Jake, with a broken nose and covered in bruises,  jumps to his feet and begins screaming at Ronnie, blaming him for the crash.  Jake takes Ronnie to the ground with a double leg takedown, followed by two elbow strikes. Ronnie is knocked unconscious. He wakes up the next day in a hospital bed.

Ronnie is discharged from the hospital three days later. He takes his car to the mechanic to repair the damage caused by the collision.  Maria the mechanic inspects the car and gives an estimate: $1500. Included in the estimate is an odometer repair.  Maria says the circuit board was altered and the number of miles driven were rolled back. The real mileage is closer to 50,000 than it is 5,000. Ronnie is furious.

Ronnie is a problem solver, not a complainer. He heads to his workshop to create a device that can detect a rolled back odometer so others won’t be ripped off like this.  He succeeds.  He names his new device the Bad Bunny Odometer Detector.

His marketing campaign begins with the packaging design.  Hiis graphic designer comes up with this:  A bunny rabbit holding up its middle finger, with the words “F$#% the Criminals” embossed beneath. His first batch of products are put up for sale at his local auto parts store.  He gets a call from the mayor’s office: The cover is distasteful and cannot be sold in the city of La Mesa.

Finally,  he gets a call from  the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  Congress wants to make sure these Bad Bunny devices – those that check mileage – don’t flood the market causing prices to plummet.  The FTC will only allow him to sell 5000 units per year.

We’ll assume for this question that Jake is the one who files the lawsuit against Ronnie concerning his injuries suffered in the crash. 

a) What legal issue will Jake most likely raise in his lawsuit against Ronnie for injuries suffered in the collision? (issue)

b)What is the definition of this legal issue, as described in the Canvas PowerPoint videos? (Rule)

c) In our class lecture/Canvas PowerPoint presentation I shared a hypothetical case where this issue was raised involving a man injured while at a golf driving range. In your own words, what were the facts in that particular case?

We’ll continue with Jake’s lawsuit against Ronnie concerning the crash.

a)Apply facts to each element of the rule in question 2. Here you are an advocate for Jake. Be sure to use the “rule” as defined in the class lecture/Canvas PowerPoint presentation. (Analysis)

b)What is Ronnie’s best defense? Explain.