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Internet commenters are firmly behind one homeowner who said they are being accused of causing injury to their neighbor's child.
Posting a detailed description of their negative relationship with their neighbors, Reddit user u/tapurplepudding said that after their neighbor's child ran into their parked truck on a bicycle, the child's parents stated that they were responsible for any injuries and resulting medical bills. Initially published on the popular r/AmITheA**hole forum, the Reddit post has received over 12,000 votes in just nine hours.
Explaining that they moved into a new home last year with their significant other, u/tapurplepudding wrote that, upon purchasing the home, they noticed that their new next door neighbor's children were drawing on their driveway with sidewalk chalk and riding bikes and scooters around the property.
In a proactive attempt to prevent a problem before it happened, the Redditor said they informed their neighbors that they preferred if the children did not play in their driveway. The neighbors explained that the previous homeowners had allowed their children to use the space, but for a time, u/tapurplepudding said their request was respected.
Following the reappearance of sidewalk chalk drawings and the children on bicycles, the original poster was forced to send a certified letter prohibiting the children from playing on their property.
Last Sunday, however, one of the children rode their bike directly into u/tapurplepudding's truck, prompting their neighbor to unleash an accusatory tirade.
"I heard the kids again, and then heard a scream," u/tapurplepudding wrote. "One of the kids rode his bike straight into the truck."
"The neighbor came out screaming at me accusing me of causing this," they added.
After yelling at the Redditor's partner that the couple would "regret this," u/tapurplepudding said father of the injured child later appeared at their house demanding financial compensation.
"Last night, the father came to our hours and said we are responsible for the medical bills from [the] kid getting hurt," they wrote. "I told him we are not responsible and that his kids should not even be in our yard."
According to FindLaw, determining liability following an injury can be difficult and is often a convoluted process. While injuries do not automatically constitute liability for property owners, injuries resulting from negligence can leave a property owner at fault.
Injuries sustained as a result of a property owner's failure to maintain their property and ensure guests' safety can lead to injury claims, and the presence of "attractive nuisances" such as swimming pools and trampolines increase the potential for legal action when children are injured
Justia, an online resource for retrieving legal information, reports that in all 50 states, "owners that occupy a property must make a reasonable effort to maintain a safe environment for visitors to it." However, when "visitors" are not welcome on the property, liability laws are less likely to protect an injured party.
According to Justia, trespassers injured on properties they have no right to be on are unable to recover damages from the property owner.
In the original Reddit post, u/tapurplepudding was clear that they had issued verbal and written statements barring their neighbor's children from playing on their property. This, combined with the absence of any attractive nuisances (FindLaw does not include a parked truck in its list of attractive nuisances) has led many Redditors commenting on the viral post to side with their original poster against their neighbor.
Labeling the injured child a trespasser, Redditor u/Urghhhlife encouraged the original poster to take legal action of their own.
"They're trespassing and if I were you I'd have already got the police involved for that," they commented. "You have no obligation to pay for their parenting failures and lack of decent respect."
In the post's top comment, which has received nearly 21,000 votes, Redditor u/No-Policy-4095 advised u/tapurplepudding to collect all of the evidence they have of the children using their property in order to combat any accusations from their neighbors.
"Make sure you know where the certified receipt for that letter is...save any security camera footage related to the incident...save any communication you have with the neighbor," they wrote.
"I think you're in a good place since you didn't cause it and you'd also advised them to repeatedly get off your property but better [to] have the info to back it up," they added.
Redditor u/That_Contribution 720, whose comment has received 6,000 votes, also said the original poster should file a trespassing report and that they should seek compensation for any damage caused to their truck.
"You should not pay for their medical bills," they wrote. "You would be fine to charge them [for] any damage to your truck."
About the writer
Taylor McCloud is a Newsweek staff writer based in California. His focus is reporting on trending and viral topics. Taylor ... Read more