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41 McGeorge L. Rev. 647 (2009-2010)
Beyond Seinfeld's Good Samaritan Debacle: Protecting Citizens Who Render Care at the Scene of an Accident from Civil Liability

handle is hein.journals/mcglr41 and id is 657 raw text is: Health and Safety Beyond Seinfeld's Good Samaritan Debacle: Protecting Citizens Who Render Care at the Scene of an Accident from Civil Liability Scott Mallery Code Section Affected Health and Safety Code § 1799.102 (amended). AB 83 (Feuer); 2009 STAT. Ch. 77. Why would we want to help somebody? That's what nuns and Red Cross workers are for. ' -Seinfeld, Series Finale I. INTRODUCTION Jerry Seinfeld built a lucrative career pointing out the predicaments that self- absorbed characters find themselves in when they only look out for their own interests.2 Unfortunately, selfless Good Samaritans can also find themselves in real world predicaments that adversely affect their lives. For example, on Halloween night 2004, co-workers Lisa Torti and Alexandra Van Horn were riding home in two separate cars after a night of drinking and carousing. The car carrying Van Horn struck a light pole on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles.! After witnessing the incident, Torti feared the car was about to explode.5 Risking her own life, she ran up to the car and pulled her friend out of the passenger-side window.6 Torti, in her haste to pull Van Horn from the car, accidentally flung her to the ground, rendering her paraplegic. Van Horn sued her friend, contending that Torti negligently yanked her out, then dropped her next to the car under the irrational assumption that the car 1. Seinfeld: The Finale (NBC television broadcast May 14, 1998). 2. See, e.g., Bill Carter, A Show About Nothing Covered a Lot, N.Y. TIMEs, Dec. 26, 1997, at A34, available at http://www.nytimes.com/specials/seinfeld/seinl226b.html (describing the sitcom as a show offering the most endearing set of self-absorbed characters ever, who took an inherently self-oriented approach to relationships); see also Forbes.com, Forbes Celebrity 100, 2004, http://www.forbes.com/lists/ home.jhtml?passListld=53&passYear=1999&passListType=Person (last visited Mar. 7, 2010) (on file with the McGeorge Law Review) (noting that in 2004 Jerry Seinfeld made a purported $267 million). 3. Carol J. Williams, Good Samaritans Get No Aid from High Court; Civilian Rescuers Can Be Sued for Injuries from Nonmedical Care, L.A. TIMES, Dec. 19, 2008, at Al. 4. 1 5. 14 6. 1d 7. Id.

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