yes, Rich, but she was just a reporter. i doubt that she was driving the van or operating the equipment. she was probably sitting there in the back of the van, touching up her make-up, and thinking to herself 'ok, who do i know that can manufacture some great story for me to cover, good enough that they'll bump that Kiki bitch off the anchor desk and put me there. i deserve it, dammit! i was Miss Crawford County, Missouri 1995, for chrissake!" then, suddenly--ZAPP!!!-- she's a crispie critter.

the McD's Coffee Woman is a different matter. she shouldn't have won a dime, because she did something stupid that she should have known better than to do, thus she caused her own injuries. the reporter was injured because of someone else's (the driver's or the equipment operator's) negligence or incompetence, and someone else's (the manufacturer's and employer's) negligence or shortsightedness. in addition to losing her forearm, her foreleg, and part of the remaining foot, she probably also lost her career, Miss Crawford County or not.

[update 6/02/05 - embarrassed to admit, but my denunciation of the McDonald's Coffee Woman was unjustedfied. In the few years since I'd written that, I've actually read something about the case instead of listening to repeated tales from other people]