Dave Head
Which was to drive drunk instead of seeking help and-or walk home. OOPS! Those are two *other* ways available to her! Dave, they *took turns* pushing and steering. That means they weren't just pushing it off to the side, but trying to make some kind of progress with it. And, in the process of pushing at (presumably) less than walking speed, they managed to *hit a parked car*. That's not rational response to an 'emergency'; that's a stupid but logical consequence of impaired judgment.
Was Dave drunk? If not, the whole 'premise' changes, at least legally. Once you get *voluntarily intoxicated*, your legal duties change dramatically. What it comes down to is that *anything* bad that happens is legally *presumed* to be your own damn fault, no matter how silly or far-fetched. I'd characterize it as a rational legal recognition of the weird poo that drunks do.
The logical consequence of what I mentioned above is that they're *screwed either way*. You know how I feel about that? Tough. Deal with it. Just try to remember that it's not your average stranded female here. It's two women who *voluntarily* got crocked and who *voluntarily* got into a car in that condition. While the lack of reliability of this particular car may or may not be their fault, it was further their (presumed) *voluntary* act that caused damage. I'm unsympathetic.
Not if she was doing it drunk ...
Once again - tough. That's how it is. When you get to make up the rules, we'll play your way.
The legal principle is simple: Once they got into the car drunk, everything else that happened that can even be *marginally* attributed to them is *their fault*! Yeah; they were in a 'no win' situation. I suspect they chose the lesser of the two evils. But that makes them as legally blameless as a bank robber who decides to shoot a hostage in the leg instead of in the head. -- C.R. Krieger (Getting less sympathetic at your prodding)
