posted June 29, 2009
Saturday afternoon around 3 p.m. while driving on I-75 southbound, a golf ball splashed my front, passenger side windshield.
Today they don't want to take the responsibility to replace the windshield, but I promise you they had no hesitation to take the money to allow the responsible person to play on their course. I firmly believe the responsibility is theirs 100%.
Mary Jones
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Miss Jones, you must be joking. How is the incident the responsibility of Brown Acres? Brown Acres did not hit your car; an individual golfer hit an errant shot that hit your vehicle. I guess if you had been at Camp Jordan and a foul ball hit your vehicle, it would be Camp Jordan to blame.
The responsibility lies "100%" with the person who actually hit the shot that ended up on the interstate. If that person does not step forward to claim responsibility, as the law requires but which is highly unlikely, then that is why they have comprehensive insurance.
Still, did you even attempt to get the matter resolved? Did you pull over to try to identify the parties playing at the hole adjacent to the interstate? Did you file a police report? If not, then it seems you are out of luck since you did nothing to hold accountable the actual responsible party.
Joel Walker
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I do not think Mr. Walker's response is altogether correct. While primary fault should indeed be assigned to the specific person who hit the errant shot that struck Ms. Jones' car, it may be that the golf course shares some of the responsibility.
I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV, but I believe - if the case ever went to court - that a standard of "reasonable care" could be applied to the course's liability. If a reasonable person, familiar with the flight of struck golf balls, could have predicted that such a ball might reach the freeway, then the owners of the course should have taken appropriate precautions to prevent that from happening.
A prime example of this is the large net separating the driving range at Moccasin Bend Golf Club from Moccasin Bend (Pineville) Road. (Another would be the net between the Lookouts' baseball stadium and the Fourth Street on-ramp to U.S. 27.) The course designers realized autos would be at risk and took reasonable steps to mitigate the situation. Thus, a suit against that golf course would be unlikely to succeed.
I am unfamiliar with the exact geometry of the Brown Acres course, as it has been many years since I played there. So I am not sure whether or not they could reasonably have anticipated the hazard that befell Ms. Jones. But it is not so cut-and-dried as Mr. Walker makes it out to be.
Regarding any attempt to get the matter resolved with the responsible party - I am familiar with the configuration of I-75 southbound and it would have been practically impossible for Ms. Jones to do anything. One cannot exit the freeway until Ringgold Road (from I-75) or Moore Road (from I-24). Then it would be necessary to traverse city streets in order to get back to the golf course. By the time she arrived at Brown Acres, the person who hit Ms. Jones' car with the stray shot would have been long gone from the area - moved on to another hole, if not done with his or her round.
Finally, the analogy with softball at Camp Jordan is completely specious. When one drives to a baseball or softball complex, one understands that foul balls are to be anticipated, and one assumes the risk associated with driving or parking in the area. However, a driver on an interstate highway (who might just as likely be from out of state as a local resident) has no way of knowing that a golf course even exists in the area, let alone that there might be a risk of balls flying onto the road. The two situations are completely different.
With all that said, I think comprehensive insurance (if Ms. Jones has it) - with Brown Acres paying the deductible amount - is likely the best resolution to the situation.
Joe Dumas
Signal Mountain
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The person who hit your car is responsible, not the golf course, and should be covered by his or her homeowners or even yours. Check it out yourself; ask an insurance agent.
Steve Burton
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My windshield has been hit by an errant golf ball going north on I-75 at Brown Acres. I can tell you now, it is a very scary experience. Yes, my insurance carrier replaced the windshield, but I was out the deductible. My parents vehicle suffered the same experience several years back.
But something needs to be done. I know of three people who have been driving I-75 at Brown Acres and had windshields damaged by golf balls. It is a wonder that wrecks don’t happen as a result.
Mary Presley
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