Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
statute of limitations
our son and his friend were taking a road trip in 1978 our son was driving his friends car and crossed the center divider and hit another car head on. the report said the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
we just found out that the car had a defective part that would make the car swerve to the left should the part fail. we found out that the other boy was cautioned to fix the car before they left and he ignored the advice. we also found out that the other parents were told of the problem after the crash. the person that told them was told to keep their mouth shut. even though they knew about the problem they sued us anyway. can we turn around and go after them?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: statute of limitations
1978? Of course not. The statute of limitations expired almost 30 years ago.
Re: statute of limitations
What dates are you talking about. I was a 1978 accident? They would have had to sue you within one year of their son turning 18 as to any of his personal injuries and, I believe, 2 years for property damage; if they were suing you for contribution as t what they had to pay the othe driver, they would have one year from the date they had a judgmnet against them. But that would still put us in the 1980's. When did they sue you and what were the results and when? Did your son fall asleep? Can you show that it is more likely than not that the part broke while your son was awake and he could not reasonably turn to the right to avoid the accident? Can your son honestly testify that there was a sudden swerve? If not, you have no case because their fraud did not cause yo any apparent economic harm. Normally you must sue within one year of finding out about the fraud or 3 years when you reasonably should have found out.
My guess is that you can not probably sue and can not win at suit against them.
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