In 1979, the novelty duo of Elmo & Patsy hit it big with their Christmas hit, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Over the last 45 years it has become a Christmas standard, and we decided to answer the question that nobody was asking, “How would you hold Santa accountable for Grandma’s injuries?”
So we’re going to go through the relevant lyrics and let you know how your Indianapolis Injury Attorneys, Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler, would seek justice and put Santa on the Naughty List.
She’d been drinking too much egg nog,
And we’d begged her not to go
But she forgot her medication,
And she staggered out the door into the snow
This is starting out as a hard case. Indiana uses what’s called “modified comparative fault” in its personal injury law. Which means that after a jury decides how much in damages a party has, they then assign a percentage of negligence/fault to each party. The plaintiff’s recovery is diminished by their amount of comparative fault, unless they bear more than 50%, in which case they get no recovery. What that means in practice, is if the total damages were $100 and the fault was decided to be 90% Santa, 10% grandma, then Santa would be liable to pay $90. If it was 40% Santa and 60% grandma, she’d get nothing.
Just because grandma had one too many does NOT mean that it’s her fault of course. But when it comes to allocating fault, we have to be aware of things the defense attorneys would be able to point to that could lead a jury to putting fault onto grandma. The fact that the witnesses have already stated that they “begged her not to go” and that she was staggering are going to be tough facts to overcome.
This would be the kind of case where a crash reconstruction could be critical in showing that grandma, as drunk as she was, was not the primary cause of the collision.
When we found her Christmas morning,
At the Scene of the Attack
She had hoof prints on her forehead
And incriminating Claus marks on her back
From a plaintiff’s perspective, this information is a double-edged sword. Clearly, this was a hit & run accident. If this was a simple accident, why did Santa leave a little old lady to die in the snow? I’d argue that he did so because he knew exactly what he did. The clear downside is having to prove that it actually was Santa’s reindeer & sleigh involved in the accident.
This is where we’d send a preservation letter to the North Pole and preferably get a full inspection of the sleigh & reindeer. Compare casts of the 8 tiny reindeer hooves to the marks on grandma’s forehead. Preferably pull the black box from the sleigh to see if it recorded a crash. And take plenty of photos to compare with the incriminating Claus marks.
If we were unable to prove that it was Santa, we wouldn’t be entirely out of options. Most insurance contracts have provisions where hit & run accidents can be classified as “uninsured motorists.” There are more hoops to jump through to make it applicable, but it’s always a possibility. It’s important to note that you don’t always have to be driving a car for your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage to apply to an accident. Oftentimes it applies to you when you’re a passenger, on a bicycle, or even a pedestrian.
Now we’re all so proud of Grandpa,
He’s been taking this so well
See him in there watching football
Playing cards and drinking beer with cousin Mel
Every injury case has two parts. First, we have to prove liability. Second, we have to prove damages. The cynics in the jury may look at these facts & assume that Grandpa is doing well without grandma around because he’s living it up with cousin Mel. In reality, however, we all grieve differently. Some people go into a deep depression when faced with a big loss. Others handle it well. Others mask it with activities or substances. Everyone is different.
We’d encourage grandpa to grieve in his own way and maybe see a therapist as he feels he needs to. One thing we’d never do is tell him how he needs to act to maximize a jury verdict. He’s the one who lost his wife and he needs to take care of himself. You should never trust a lawyer that puts the case before the person.
It’s worth noting the way Indiana calculates damages in these kinds of wrongful death cases too. Since they were married, there is no statutory cap on damages that Grandpa could recover for the loss of grandma. Had they not been married and assuming grandma didn’t have any minor or dependent children, the damages would have been capped at $300,000 to her adult non-dependent children. If she weren’t married and didn’t have any children (dependent or not), then the damages would have been capped at her funeral and burial expenses. There wouldn’t be any additional damages for the loss of grandma at all.
Conclusion
And that’s our summation of how Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer would be affected by Indiana personal injury law. The case would be complicated for sure, as many cases are, but your Indianapolis Personal Injury Attorneys at Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler would know how to assess the case and try and bring justice for grandma and closure for her family.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a safe night!