A local personal injury lawyer takes the stakes for a lawsuit he filed on behalf of a woman who sued the owner of a horse she rode while intoxicated.

Rich Holtzapfel recently filed the case in Kanawha County Circuit Court, alleging injuries sustained two years ago when his client was horsing around. The woman alleges that her host threw a party in which both alcohol and horseback rides were available to guests. After consuming alcohol, the guest apparently agreed to the partygiver’s offer of a horseback ride. The woman fell while attempting to get on the horse, sustaining alleged injuries.

Shouldn’t common sense dictate the outcome of this case? By alleging negligence on the part of the host, the party guest apparently excuses herself from any responsibility whatsoever. Mounting a horse can be quite the challenge. It is likely even more difficult once you’ve knocked back a couple of cocktails. Shouldn’t the woman be held equally accountable for stupidly deciding to ride a horse whil intoxicated?

Sadly, this is just another example of personal injury lawyers chipping away at the idea of personal responsibility. We wonder if Holtzapfel will subpoena Mr. Ed to testify as his “mane” witness.

Forbes Magazine recently listed Charleston, WV as one of America’s fastest dying cities. In response to the ranking, one local official placed part of the blame on the creation of roads. That’s right. Roads are partly to blame for Charleston’s dying population. Specifically, the political leader told the Charleston Daily Mail that “the interstates were built and so people left.”

Oddly, it doesn’t seem like the creation of interstate roads has hurt Charlotte, NC, which has seen countless West Virginians relocate to the city in recent years. Perhaps we could prohibit younger West Virginians from driving cars, so that they would be unable to leave the state for greener pastures once they are of working age. Or we could prohibit them from watching the news. That way, they wouldn’t know that Virginia is the best state in the nation for jobs. Heck, we could go really old school and build a wall around the city! That would keep them from leaving.

Isn’t it time for some real solutions from our political leaders. It is getting rather tiresome hearing our politicians continually deflect blame for our state’s economic woes. Instead of blaming the creation of the wheel and other technological advances, perhaps we should look at our state’s out-of-step legal system, as well as regulatory and tax burdens pointed out by Forbes recently.