Tort Story

Florida playwright and novelist Bobby Cramer, who blogs at Bark Bark Woof Woof, apparently ran into "an elderly gentleman in a 2007 Infiniti" when the old man "made a left turn directly in front of me at an intersection." Bobby's okay. The elderly man is okay, too. But the Mustang is in critical condition.

Bobby writes:

Fortunately it happened in the middle of downtown Coral Gables and within five minutes there were three police cruisers and fire rescue on the scene.

That little detail brings to mind the story of a Yankee friend of ours who had a similar accident a few years ago. He was in New Orleans on business, driving a rental car.

Unfamiliar with the streets and signs, he suddenly found himself in the center of town, going the wrong way on a one-way street in heavy noontime traffic. Frantically looking all around, he tried to inch into the intersection so he could angle onto a two-way street, but in the process he "T-boned" another car -- in slow motion.

Our friend says he stopped immediately. Inexplicably, a large crowd gathered around both vehicles immediately. Our friend quickly exited his rental car and tried to make his way through the gaggle of gawkers to the other car, hoping to find the other driver wasn't hurt (he wasn't). As he pushed his way through the bystanders, one after another stopped him.

"I can get you a good lawyer," one fellow told him urgently.

"Me too, " said another. "I know where you can buy the best lawyer in town."

A third man grabbed our friend's elbow. "Hey, buddy," he said. "I can buy you a judge."