I am explaining the entire story below, but in a nutshell, who is responsible if a neighbor's child borrows one of MY child's toys and an accident occurs with the toy to a third child on her own property? (Toy belongs to Child A. Toy was borrowed by Child B. Accident occurs to Child C on the property of Child C).
We have a neighbor who I have considered a dear friend. She is extremely "anti-guns", and I completely respect that. Our boys have BB guns and air-soft guns. The latter are toys (with an orange tip) but nonetheless an accident could occur, as they shoot tiny plastic, BB sized pellets, or balls. We require our boys (15 and 17) to wear protective eye gear, long sleeves, and long pants and to play responsibly when no one else is around. This particular neighbor has asked that their girls not be at our home when the boys are playing with the guns, nor are my boys allowed on her property with the guns. We have respected this rule and all has gone well until last weekened...
My son and a neighbor boy (also 15) were using the guns as a prop in a video for school. They were making signs for the video down the street and a sworm of bees bagan chasing them. My son dropped his gun and ran. They both ran to the neighbor's house (the one who doesn't like guns) and into her garage where her daughter were playing. All of a sudden, the gun borrowed by the neighbor kid, fell out of his pocket. My son picked it up and put it in his pocket, knowing their rule. They were asked to leave.
I was called by the neighbor, reminding me that under no circumstances does she want any guns on her property. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't my son and that I can't be responsible for the actions of other children. She told me she would hold me personally responsible because it was OUR gun. I did call an attorney who said I did nothing wrong.
Today she called me again about another non-related incident and I tried to mend fences because I like her as a friend. I suggested she call the neighbor boy's mom if she's concerned about him ever coming onto her property again. I warned him but it isn't my place to "parent him". She said she wasn't interested in talking with his mom because it was OUR gun and that if an accident happened, she could "Sue the pants off of me." I told her that was like saying if someone borrowed her baseball bat and went down the street and another kid was hit in the head accidently, that his parents could sue her. She said, "That's right. It's my property that was used to create the accident." I don't see how this can legally be true.
I am now stuck. She keeps allowing her children to come over to play, and since we are new to the area, our children really have few friends. I want them to remain friends with her girls and I would love to continue my friendship with the neighbor but it's now hard. I'm now uncomfortable loaning out any toy to any neighbor for fear her children may get injured. I'm afraid an accident will happen to one of her children on our property and she won't be resonable. She doesn't seem reasonable to me, yet she is a very intelligent person. Can someone please explain my rights? If she sues us on the premise that another child was borrowing OUR property, with which an accident occured, resulting in an injury to her child, I doubt it would hold up in court. However, would we be responsible for all of the court costs and attorney fees? I just feel that could financially ruin us and that we'd have to "settle" for something that wasn't our fault. If we went to court and won, would she have to pay the court costs/our attorney fees?
Setting aside the fact that I like her in all other ways as a person, I honestly can't understand that anyone would seriously blame the owner of the toy over the person who may have caused an acident with it. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
We have a neighbor who I have considered a dear friend. She is extremely "anti-guns", and I completely respect that. Our boys have BB guns and air-soft guns. The latter are toys (with an orange tip) but nonetheless an accident could occur, as they shoot tiny plastic, BB sized pellets, or balls. We require our boys (15 and 17) to wear protective eye gear, long sleeves, and long pants and to play responsibly when no one else is around. This particular neighbor has asked that their girls not be at our home when the boys are playing with the guns, nor are my boys allowed on her property with the guns. We have respected this rule and all has gone well until last weekened...
My son and a neighbor boy (also 15) were using the guns as a prop in a video for school. They were making signs for the video down the street and a sworm of bees bagan chasing them. My son dropped his gun and ran. They both ran to the neighbor's house (the one who doesn't like guns) and into her garage where her daughter were playing. All of a sudden, the gun borrowed by the neighbor kid, fell out of his pocket. My son picked it up and put it in his pocket, knowing their rule. They were asked to leave.
I was called by the neighbor, reminding me that under no circumstances does she want any guns on her property. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't my son and that I can't be responsible for the actions of other children. She told me she would hold me personally responsible because it was OUR gun. I did call an attorney who said I did nothing wrong.
Today she called me again about another non-related incident and I tried to mend fences because I like her as a friend. I suggested she call the neighbor boy's mom if she's concerned about him ever coming onto her property again. I warned him but it isn't my place to "parent him". She said she wasn't interested in talking with his mom because it was OUR gun and that if an accident happened, she could "Sue the pants off of me." I told her that was like saying if someone borrowed her baseball bat and went down the street and another kid was hit in the head accidently, that his parents could sue her. She said, "That's right. It's my property that was used to create the accident." I don't see how this can legally be true.
I am now stuck. She keeps allowing her children to come over to play, and since we are new to the area, our children really have few friends. I want them to remain friends with her girls and I would love to continue my friendship with the neighbor but it's now hard. I'm now uncomfortable loaning out any toy to any neighbor for fear her children may get injured. I'm afraid an accident will happen to one of her children on our property and she won't be resonable. She doesn't seem reasonable to me, yet she is a very intelligent person. Can someone please explain my rights? If she sues us on the premise that another child was borrowing OUR property, with which an accident occured, resulting in an injury to her child, I doubt it would hold up in court. However, would we be responsible for all of the court costs and attorney fees? I just feel that could financially ruin us and that we'd have to "settle" for something that wasn't our fault. If we went to court and won, would she have to pay the court costs/our attorney fees?
Setting aside the fact that I like her in all other ways as a person, I honestly can't understand that anyone would seriously blame the owner of the toy over the person who may have caused an acident with it. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.
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