a. You are a big car racing fan, and you don't have enough money to buy a ticket to the NASCAR car race being held at your local race track. Thus, you decide to go to the race, but sneak in by jumping the fence. You are successful in jumping the fence and getting in, but you end up in a restricted area - you see a sign that states: "KEEP OUT - DANGEROUS AREA." You ignore the sign, grab a beer from your cooler that you also brought and you sit down on a small wooden bench and start watching the race. About 10 minutes into the race a car in the race wrecks and a piece of the car hits you in your left eye and you permanently lose sight in that eye. After you get through with all the medical treatment, you are really mad and decide to sue the owner of the race track. In short, you sue the owner of the race track for negligence, claiming that the race track should not have seating (i.e., the wooden bench) so close to the actual race track.

Briefly explain what defenses (excuses) the owner of the race track has to your claim that the owner was negligent.

b. Paul was walking down Main street (a busy street in Baltimore, Maryland), and texting his girlfriend at the same time. He really was not paying attention, but saw the green light and the "walk" sign, so he decided to cross the street. Meanwhile, Doug was also not paying attention as he was driving his car down the street, and he ran the red light, hit Paul, and Paul ended up with 2 broken legs.

Paul sues Doug for negligence.

What are some of the defenses Doug might have in defending himself even though he admits to running the red light?

c. Ima Clumsy lives in Maryland and purchased a sledge hammer directly from the ABC Hammer Company, which manufactured the hammer. Ima gets home and attempts to use the hammer to pound a fence post into the ground. But, with her first swing of the hammer the head of the hammer falls off and hits her in the face. As a result, Ima suffers a deep cut on her face requiring 30 stitches.

After Ima gets back from the hospital, she examines the hammer and the packaging the hammer came in when she purchased it at the store. With her examination, she notices that there is a hole for a saftey pin that would have prevented the head of the hammer from falling off, but the safety pin was missing and there were no written instructions or warnings to check for the safety pin before using the hammer.

Explain whehter or not Ima has a legal case against ABC Hammer Company based on strict liability.