If you are an adult and you wipe out, it's your fault. If you buy them for your kids and they go sailing into a plate glass window, that's your bad, too.

What about those of us who are walking in one of those stores, thinking that the other people in there with are walking also? Having the share the store with somebody who can--without warning--shift to much faster speed is turning into a real problem, one that is going to leave people sprawled among the Whole Foods lettuces or encourage a new generation of signage prohibiting heeling along with other dangerous activites.

I thought that the kids sailing through my supermarket just had parents who didn't know how to keep them under control. Now it appears that the children are actually encouraged to do that shit and make me look like an old fart for being pissed off.

Oh, and don't forget the Lawyers.

First off, they are a danger to self, I don't remember the statistics on injuries and yes (death) from these cute little things.

And of course if they have an accident in your supermarket, guess where some lawyer is going to come looking.

I believe a sign that specifies what types of shoes are appropriate in your establishment would be very appropriate, with the minimum of a statement that you are not responsible for the damages of anyone injured and then the statement of the damages they do to your store and inventory.

Good luck, I do not envy you.

No lawyer is going to touch this. I know simply because I am awaiting admission to the Bar, and I get calls from parents all the time wanting to sue Heely's because their spastic 5-year-old wiped out and broke their arm. I generally laugh and say "You put shoes with wheels on your little kid and YOU want to sue someone?" Plus there is the injury itself - kids are expected to fall out of a tree, or off their rollerskates and break something. It's almost a rite of passage.

McDonalds was succesfully sued because their coffee is--gasp--hot, and you imagine that lawyers everywhere will avoid suing manufacturers of shoes with wheels for kids because we should expect kids to hurt themselves?

Write back on this topic a couple of years after you've been practicing, and let us know if you still feel the same way.

Again, if the kid splats right into a wall, that's not my problem and courts should send his parents packing. But I will be looking for legal advice for certain if I'm just minding my business in the Kroger, carefully counting which clamshell package has more cherry tomatoes, and a forty-eight pound projectile, its big fat head about even with my crotch, comes sailing into me at warp speed.

jds2006:

encourage a new generation of signage prohibiting heeling along with other dangerous activites.

Said signage seen at Six Flags (over GA, but I bet elsewhere too). "The only rollers allowed in this park are the roller coasters". Combined Heely's (by several brand names) with skateboards and the like.

No, McDonald's was sued successfully because they consistently heated their coffee 20 degrees higher than other restaurants (to 185 degrees), after being warned repeatedly by the courts to keep it at a cooler temperature after over 700 incidents had been brought to court. This wasn't "ow, that was hot" -- the coffee caused burns so severe the woman was in hospitalized for a week with third-degree burns on her thighs, buttocks, and groin that required skin grafts, which was similar to what other patients experienced. Also, the woman only sued because the restaurant refused to compensate the resulting huge medical bill which, still working to support herself at 81 years old, she couldn't afford.

There is more information, along with analysis of how the business community encouraged the false "coffee is hot, duh" concept, here: Facts About The McDonald's Coffee Lawsuit. You can also find the same information elsewhere on the web; I first read about it in a textbook when studying business law in college twelve years ago.

Don't know about you, but when I spill a hot drink, I expect it to hurt and turn a little red; I don't quite expect I'll need skin grafts and a long hospital stay. ;)

what moron thinks it's a good idea to drive around a parking lot with hot coffee balanced in his/her crotch?

I actually laughed out loud when I first heard about this lawsuit. It was 100% caused by an individual behaving like an idiot.

Then again, this is the nation that has to label an iron: Do Not Iron Clothes On Body.

There is an assumption of the risk argument to be made, certainly, but as a future lawyer you should know that nothing in the law is quite that cut and dry.

?

Um, she wasn't driving with the coffee balanced on her crotch...it spilled while she was stopped opening the lid to add some cream. She also wasn't the driver.

I also studied this case as an example of how social pressures can affect people's perception of the law. As it turns out the woman had no desire to sue and was hesitant to do so b/c she thought it was money-grubbing. In the end she had no other way of paying her hospital bill...those were the original damages she sued for.

But you're right, only individuals are idiots and businesses always behave in the best interests of their customers.

To JDS2006, shut up and relax. Kids will be kids and kids do things that are inconvenient for adults. It is a part of being a kid. Heeleys are an interesting fad and if kids want to use them in public than they should be allowed to. Maybe people should remember when they were kids and they were riding skateboards and scooters and bikes much to the chagrin of adults like yourself. These kids want to have a little excitement in their lives and they should be allowed to do so. I don't think that these shoes pose as much a threat as people want to think. If a kid comes at you with so much force that it actually causes you injury then you may want to reconsider your physical structure. Are kids breaking the soundbarrier on these things? Take off your bifoculs, lighten up your attitude and bulk up your physique.

I'll tell you what, Danlinley, the next time your 'effing little brat knocks me over in produce because the little bastard couldn't stop his goddamn heelies in time, I will not sue the grocery store, I will sue you.

& yes kids can use them in public places, OUTSIDE public places, dumbass, not INSIDE public places.

Personally, I don't care if any of these kids get hurt, hopefully they will and stop using the stupid shoes. And I couldn't be happier that I see more and more stores outlawing the atrocities. They should not use them in public simply for the safety of others. Do you remember seeing skateboards in the underwear section at Penny's? Now, I really don't mind if these kids are outside away from a crowd of people, but that's the same way I feel about skateboards/scooters/etc. And, I know by experience these shoes are more of a hazard to the general public because my pregnant sister was shopping in the shoe section at a department store and was nearly toppled over by some stupid brat with those damn shoes. So not only could my sister received injury, my unborn neice could have suffered as well. Also, what about the elderly in public? They certainly cannot bulk up, and if a kid skates into them knocking them down causing a broken hip, are we to blame the victim for being myopic? I think the short sighted one is you Danlinley.