RANT Pt 3
When I was a kid, I wandered the entire country side.
Property owners around us knew us, knew where we lived and never minded our (Jim Ed & me) presence.
We didn't cut fences, only stole the smaller melons, didn't tear up crops, didn't leave gates open, etc, etc, etc....
If we did any of that, THEY would bust our butts, but they woukd tell our parents and we got our butts handed to us again. We would have to provide unpaid labor to correct our misbehavior, and then there was the possibility of barring access.
Then the suburbs came along.
Kids that had no idea about the responsibilities of a "country lifestyle" were soon wandering the countryside, cutting fences, burning barns, injuring livestock and damaging crops. Suddenly, free access was no longer available and "NO TRESPASSING" signs went up everywhere!!
Case in point:
Our neighbor had 80 acres. Some screwball city kid, despite the signs, trespassed. He decided to show his buddies he could walk the top wire of a barbed wire fence.
The ensuing injury resulted in near castration!
His parents sued the landowner.
The landowner ended up selling half his property to help cover legal expenses!
How could an owner be liable for that?? If a car leaves the road, hits a tree in your yard, kills driver, family can sue you cause your tree killed driver??
