Oddly ENOUGH

What is odd about this?

A Spanish driver who collided with a cyclist is suing the dead youth's family $29,300 for the damage the impact of his body did to his luxury car, a Spanish newspaper reported on Friday.

Tasteless? Sure - but how many lawsuits are in good taste anyway? Here's what isn't odd about the incident:

The youth had been cycling alone at night without reflective clothing or a helmet, according to a police report cited by El Pais.

His family won 33,000 euros compensation from Delgado's insurance company after the firm acknowledged he had been driving at excessive speed and this could have contributed to the incident, El Pais reported.

If you thought that only automobile drivers could be negligent, welcome outside the cave! I see pedestrians and especially bike-riders being careless and getting in each other's way all the time; when they get in the way of motor vehicles, those vehicles tend to be driving so exceptionally defensively that no serious accidents occur. That's not because the motorists owe you anything, it's because they're nice people. Well, some idiot cyclist pressed his luck too far, and now he's dead. Whoops! You can still be negligent and get yourself hurt at the same time.

Classic(ly stupid):

The family said they had previously pitied Delgado for the guilt he must feel at killing their son but were now disgusted that his greatest concern appeared to be money.

"The guilt he must feel." Well, people often feel guilty about things which aren't their fault. Survivors of disasters feel "survivor guilt" even when their actions contributed not a bit to the disaster nor to the deaths of those who didn't make it out. This is pathology, and something that we indeed pity because it's needless psychological anguish. Given that this family pitied that man whom they thought was guilty without reason, shouldn't they be happy that he's not guilty about something he didn't do?

I love the line "his greatest concern appeared to be money." Well, he has been wronged and must be paid to be made whole. Are all tort victims just concerned with money? Those greedy little people, thinking that, just because they were wronged, they should be compensated!

I pity people who are torn up with pain at the loss of a loved one and want to blame it on a victim of that loved one's reckless behavior. My sympathy for you just rode a bike at night and was hit by reality.