It would be trivial for the owner to test the limb at regular intervals (have a few people pull on the rope from an angle).<p>The insurance company settled, which suggests that under US law there was liability. Negligence is one of the most common sort of lawsuits in the US, looking it up I see that it is a common law concept and it&#x27;s hard to find any resources that discuss it in terms of civil law. Perhaps that explains some of it.