Ryan Dunn’s Estate Sued By Parents Of Other Man Killed In His Car Crash

I'm sure Hartwell was completely sober, come on now.

So I guess that because their son wasn't the one driving that there was no negligence, carelessness and recklessness on his part for being drunk and willingly getting into a car with someone that a bar supposedly knew was drunk. Unfortunately I see him at just as much fault as Dunn. It happened and it was a tregedy, move on and look for the good.

They will sue the car company next, and then he county for making the road curvy..

lol this is dumb.. no one forced him to get in the car get over it.

what bullshit! dun probably picked up the tab his friend was drinking on & encouraged him to go faster in his Porsche GT3RS! shame on the parents!

sounds kinda planned and also fucked up.

Dunn's friend proably encourage him to go faster.

The whole thing is ridiculous but the part I find the most audacious: "The parents also want compensation for any future wages and earnings Hartwell would have earned during the remainder of his life." WTF is this? They wouldn't have received that money had he lived and earned it. What do they want to dig up his grave and bury him with it? This is a big part of what's wrong with this country. The sense of entitlement is astounding.

Complete bullshit. They just made themselves look like complete assholes. Congratulations Hartwell family. Two grown ass men chose to get into the same vehicle together after drinking excessively. Both men lost their lives. Complete tragedy for these two friends and their family's. I hope their stupid ass lawsuit gets thrown out and the judge chastises them for being money hungry opportunists.

Yeah, its ridiculous! They won't win. If they do, then ANYONE can sue a bar and family for a drunk driving incident. You know how many lawsuits there'd be!? Way too many.

I feel for the parents, I do, but a parent's grief can become so great that they enter denial in situations like this, and begin to cast blame on anybody and everybody they can. Are you telling me that Ryan Dunn's passenger was unaware that Dunn was: (a.) Drunk, (b.) a member of the "Jackass" crew, notorious for doing dangerous stunts for entertainment of themselves and their fans (of which, I am one…), and (c.) prone to drink and drive recklessly and live life on the edge, so to speak?

The parents simply can't let go of their grief, and that is totally understandable and very common. But it seems to me that they are saying, "Well, we've lost our son, and that's way more painful than the public's opinion of us if we try to cash in on Ryan Dunn's monetary success." The only way that this lawsuit is totally justified, in my opinion, would be if Dunn held a gun to the guy's head and forced him to get in the car. Anyone who has twice the legal blood alcohol leval has been drinking fairly heavily, and there are pictures of Dunn at that bar with others, of which, I'm willing to bet Hartwell was among. I'm against this lawsuit because the Hartwells are forgetting something… Ryan Dunn's death caused a lot of pain among his family as well. Neither death was "timely" and both are tragic. All the parents are accomplishing by pressing on with this lawsuit is putting the family of Dunn through more hell than they are already suffering. It seems that they have forgotten that the world doesn't revolve around their particular family… as is common among untimely deaths. If he was in that car, unless he was held captive at gunpoint against his will, there's no blame to be cast in a courtroom.

And that goes for the suit against the bar as well, as far as I'm concerned. Now, a court could say otherwise, but there are lots of Americans drinking every night in LOTS OF BARS, and I'd say at least 50% probably leave the bar too drunk to drive. If you try to hold a bar responsible for serving a celebrity too many drinks, you seem to be grasping at straws… or in this case, money. Because… let's face it, they are basically suing a dead guy. Is justice going to be served if they get a multi-million dollar check because their son got into a car with a drunk member of the "Jackass" crew? From what I know about Ryan Dunn, he was a nice guy. A sweet, kind-hearted guy that certainly would have stopped the car (or at least slowed down) if his passenger was afraid and protesting out loud. Short of that, all their doing is cashing-in to try to ease their pain with money. Money from a dead man's estate. It's a cash grab, but they must be in deep pain, so there's nothing the public can or will do to put them in more pain than they are already in, and…. you can see how their judgment is askew. But, the morally objectionable part is that they are exploiting Ryan Dunn's celebrity status and cash flow. Deplorable, if you ask me, but understandable given that they are grieving for their son. They don't seem to care at all that there is another family suffering the pain of an untimely death, too. Maybe cooler heads will prevail in the court.

Sorry, don't agree with the lawsuit…..he had a choice and he chose to get in the car! that simple

Assholes just trying to make fast easy money.

We have alot of Jackass fans here supporting Ryan Dunn.If any of your family members die like this I hope you still feel the same way.

Hhhm… So, avarice truly has no moral limitations. Good to know.

Folks, there seems to be a blurred sense of right vs. wrong with many people today. Sorry, but if you don't agree with certain aspects of this case, your parents didn't raise you right. The family(s) of anyone harmed by Dunn's negligence are definitely entitled to every single nickel he had including non-monetary assets. Just as well, when there is proof that someone has had too much to drink when leaving from a bar/nightclub and they did nothing to stop him from driving away, the bar owner should be breaking rocks with a hammer for the rest of his/her days and the bar should be turned over to the victim's family. THen they can decide to keep it to generate revenue or burn it to the ground. Right vs. Wrong people.

Folks, there seems to be a blurred sense of right vs. wrong with many people today. Sorry, but if you don't agree with certain aspects of this case, your parents didn't raise you right. The family(s) of anyone harmed by Dunn's negligence are definitely entitled to every single nickel he had including non-monetary assets. Just as well, when there is proof that someone has had too much to drink when leaving from a bar/nightclub and they did nothing to stop him from driving away, the bar owner should be breaking rocks with a hammer for the rest of his/her days and the bar should be turned over to the victim's family. THen they can decide to keep it to generate revenue or burn it to the ground. Right vs. Wrong people.

This whole thing is so messed up. One, he was at the bar drinking and drunk as well. Two, he was forced against his will to get in the car with him. Three, it took them a whole year to decide they felt intitled to sue. Four, his parents want whatever his future earnings would have been for the remainder of his life? So if he was alive he would be giving his parents all his earnings?

That makes no sense at all. It was a sad and tragic event for all involved and it sadly looks like they are just trying to make money off of it. It makes you wonder, if he was in the car and killed with someone that was not a celebrity would they be trying to sue them? Well, that says a lot for this country…ha ha if you don't like something and want to make a quick buck you sue.

I couldnt agree more.

Is all this money the parents are trying to get going to bring their son back in some way? Their son made a choice (getting in the car with a drunk man) that night along with Ryan…..poor choices on BOTH parts. I believe they are entitled to some money to help pay for funeral arrangements and sorts, but come on future earnings?

People make "choices" everyday that result in their death as a result of someone elses negligence by your line of reasoning choice overrides negligence? New Jersey's State appeals Court begs to differ in a bars responsibility for an intoxicated patron who drives away.

who's to say hartwell wasn't pleading with Dunn to slow down?

How do you prove that Zachary didn't cause the accident, or encourage Ryan to drive faster. I disagree with the lawsuit against the estate mainly because its not penalizing a person/business for wrongdoing, it just about getting money especially when it from the Parents of a 30 year adult, I agree with suing Barnaby’s of America to penalize them and in an effort to prevent this from happening to someone else.
The end result is 2 good people passed that evening, Zachary and Ryan RIP.

What greedy human beings. The fact that Dunn and Hartwell were both having a great time before hand should have plenty of weight.. These guys were friends and they BOTH decided to get into the car Together! This is pathetic and I feel bad for everyones loss but the fact is they were both at fault! The Hartwell parents are a couple of blood sucking pigs that want blood! Losers… Take a look at what happened, Dunn didn't drag Hartwell into the car! WAKE UP!

All of your moms.

not a big fan one way or the other but is this going to bring there son back? I for one don't believe in law suits that are for more then your medical of funeral cost

IMHO – suing the estate -…moneygrubbing…they can rationalize it anyway they want…

suing the bar – ideal.

Um… He got into a car with Ryan Dunn… A drunk Ryan Dunn… Come on now.

Um… He got into a car with Ryan Dunn… A drunk Ryan Dunn… Come on now.

Low life parents just wanna make money and are using their son as a means to do so….he willingly got into a vehicle with dunn who was hammered, he is just as guilty in the tragedy. Hartwell parents need to grow some morals, its all about the money for them bad people

Haha well you r very confused sir. So your saying every bar in the nation who has ever had a drunk leave and cause an accident that resulted in lives lost should be sued, LOL good joke…its is not a bar owners responsibility to take keys from people and the hartwell kid made a decision to get into the car with an intoxicated dunn. I think he is a big boy to make his own decisions wether it be right or wrong, bottom line it was his choice that unfortunately cost him his life. His parents obviously just want money they are low lives and pathetic for using their son in such away

Why did he get in the car with a drunk driver!

So sorry to hear that a passenger also died with Dunn. My question is how are they going to determine how much money their son would have made had he lived? I personally believe no one dies before their time. If he hadn't died in that accident he would have died another way on that day. Wh would their son have gotten into the car with Dunn? What was their son's blood alcohol level? If you're gonna drink, take a cab.

role # 1 if someone is drunk DO NOT get in the car with them if you do your just at falt and ryan dunn's famly shuld sue them for leting him drive.

role # 1 if someone is drunk DO NOT get in the car with them if you do your just at falt and ryan dunn's famly shuld sue them for leting him drive.

joe are you fucking serious. what are bartenders, fucking babysitters for grown ups? its not a day care for adults. when you go into a bar to get drunk, you know the consequences of getting intoxicated. if your too stupid to realize your getting in the car with another intoxicated person who has had a terrible driving record to begin with, thats your dumb fucking mistake. going after a bar for gettng someone drunk is ridiculous. thats a bartenders job, make money selling booze getting people drunk. and whose to say hartwell wasnt encouraging the speeding? its just dumb to think its a bars responsibility to take care of every drunk that walks in. and it really pisses me off when poeple think like that.

why is it the bar fault. you go to a bar to get fucked up. if you dont know the consequences maybe you shouldn't be drinking. bars are not a fucking daycare center for adults. if you cant control yourself enough to say i have had enough, maybe you shouldn't of walked in the bar in the first place. there could have been 100 people in this bar. how are they supposed to know what everyone has had to drink. its not their responsibility. they are not at fault.

Sounds like Zachs parents are looking to retire on the death of their son.

your dumb.

Here's what I don't get. This accident happened a year ago, and now they want to do something about it. Seems to me that they hit a hole, financial wise, and now want to claim money using their sons death.

greedy bastards thinking more about money than their dead son I hope they don't get a dime!

Wow… Just looking for a payday! People like this SICKEN me! That passenger got into that car on his own free will… Zachary was old enough to make his own choices! Ryan didn't hold a gun to his head and force him! Pathetic parents here… What about Ryan he died too under his own choices!

Ian Lienau why do you say that big guy?

@badass78, Getting drunk in a bar is not illegal. Getting drunk in a bar and driving is illegal. Its no different than if he had gotten into a taxi cab and a semi ran over the cab and killed him. Jerica, Ive worked many bars and restaurants and they can ABSOLUTELY be held responsible for failing to set a limit on their patrons alcohol consumption, especially where fatalities are involved. Eddie, it's not about bringing their son back, it's about precedent.

Donald Miller I can't believe how crass and hate filled you are! Would you say such nasty things if hartwell had been sober and driving a car that Dunn hit at 140 mph? If Hartwell was drunk then how sharp do you think he would be at determining how drunk someone else is? Ive worked many bars and restaurants and it is not a joke at all when people are allowed to drink too much and drive and the law CAN hold the business owner responsible and charge them with criminal neglect. These people have a responsibility to the communities they do business in. Somewhere in every bar in America there is a sign posted that says "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone at anytime." The bar should've cut him off. Now they should be sued.

Donald Miller It's so easy to be holier than thou when we've all made the same decisions he did. It just so happens that we are still alive to point the finger of blame at a dead person who isn't here to defend himself. Cowards!

Alan Carter Pfuhl Exactly! Thank you Alan

I just wonder if any of the mental titans dazzling us with their oh-so-worldly words of wisdom on here have ever actually experienced what it means to lose a child.

I can see why the parents are upset but really it was Zacharay's choice to get into the car with Dunn, he coulda said no but he went. I am sure Dunn didn't force him into the car. they were both wasted and wreckless, I'm sry but the dudes parents can't blame Dunn. it took 2 decisions for that disaster not one! people need to wise up and think!

Yeah kinda like the wrongful death suit filed by the estate of Chris Henry huh???

suing the bar is the most ridiculous thing i have heard. bars are not a daycare. if you cant handle your alcohol dont expect someone else to watch it for you.

The bars / restuarants that Ive worked at we have been trained to flag ppl getting too drunk. Its just the responsible thing to do.

I'm not disagreeing with you and I didn't mean to implie Barnaby’s of America was at fault/any legal wrong doing. But there are Laws called “Dram shop” and are statutes that impose liability on bars and other retail establishments for damages that occur as a result of serving alcohol to someone who is visibly intoxicated. That's why the bartender and waitstaff have the right to refuse service to an intoxicated person. So they can be sued and if found guilty they could be penalized.

WARNING
The following show features stunts.
performed either by professionals or.
under the supervision of professionals,
Accordingly MTV and the producers.
must insist that no one attempt to.
recreate of re-enact any stunt or.
activity performed on this show.
I AM A HUGE JACKASS FAN!
but…
Let us look at that WARNING a little closer shall we?
Was Ryan Dunn a professional race car driver?
Was Ryan Dunn driving smashed under the supervision of professionals?
I am normally very quick to be disgusted by greed and gold diggers who are lookin for a pay day…but this is a sad reality that I am ok with. I didn't know Dunn, but I bet a sober Dunn would not have made the same deadly decision and would have been devastated had he lived to know his Jackassness killed his friend or another human being. Hopefully the Hartwell family's "attorney" won't be greedy to hurt Ryan's family.

Donald Miller – You are obviously very young and naive, so let me explain this to you and I'll go nice and slow. Bars and nightclubs HAVE been sued and HAVE lost when there is proof that they saw a patron leave their establishment drunk and did nothing to stop them. You say, "Well its not the bar's responsibility…." It IS their responsibility. Try doing some research before you come on here with your uniformed comments. There were a coiuple of huge cases in the last 20 years where the media showed nightclub footage from the nightclub's surveillance cameras showing people literally falling out of club doors past door security personnel and they just let the drunks go by, never asking for their car keys or to call them cabs….those clubs got their asses sued and lost. Ever since then, you see WAY MORE bars and clubs acting diligently to stop drunk people from driving. Again, get a clue, chumlee. This bar that DUnn was at should be shutdown or handed over to the victims' families.

……and although this should go without saying, what I meant in my last comment is that the aforementioned court cases involve patrons stumbling drunk out of bars, not be stopped by bar personnel and then the drunk people drove and actually damaged property and either hurt or killed people.

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They will win. These type of lawsuits happen all the time and they can sue a bar for a drunk driving accident. I know for fact that most bars are required to carry insurance just for that simple reason… the thing that will most likely happen is that they will settle out of court for an undisclosed sum

Where is the toxiology report for Hartwell kept saying it was coming. Nothing!! This family makes me sick they are making it sound like their son was not even at the bar that night. Bottom line is they were both drinkng . If Dunn was so drunk why didn't Hartwell drive maybe Dunns family should Hartwells family cus he let Dunn drive. Hartwells sister was on Dr.

Phill for family's who's loved ones are killed by a drunk driver but not once did she state her brother was drinking too. This is total bullshit!! Hartwells father made a statement to press when accident happen he would not sue. So why now over a year latter. This family should be ashamed opening all these old wounds so you can benefit from your sons death. I'm sure you already got one pay out from the insurance company, $$ hungry that's what you are!! Your son wouldn't want this they were friends!!!