Britney Spears wasn't behind the wheel this time, but she has attracted controversy just the same.
A paparazzo who claims he was seriously injured in June 2004 when Spears' mom, Lynne, allegedly ran over his foot and knocked him down in her small SUV has sued the pop star and her mother, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.com.
Spears was reportedly riding in the vehicle at the time with her sister Jamie Lynn and their mom was driving. The three had just left a Santa Monica pet store with two little pups in tow. The plaintiff, Cullen Reavley, was one of a number of photographers who crowded around the ladies as they got into their car, which belonged to Lynne.
Reavley has said that, as the trio started driving away, they hit him with their Toyota Scion. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Reavley stated that he suffered injuries to his "head, neck, back, trunk and extremities, all of which have caused and continue to cause plaintiff great mental, physical and nervous pain and suffering."
The photographer has asked for an unspecified amount of damages to cover medical fees, loss of wages and injuries that will result in "permanent disability," according to the complaint.
At the time in question, police arrived on the scene but did not ticket Lynne or accuse her of any wrongdoing. A video shot in the parking lot didn't capture any run-in, but showed Reavley lying on the ground. An ambulance took him to the hospital, where doctors found swelling but no broken bones.
"If anyone was injured by accident, it was caused by the paparazzi's own conduct," Spears' management said in a statement following the incident.
Paparazzi, Spears and cars have become a "Toxic" combination of late. When she was publicly lambasted in February after being spotted driving with her baby boy in her lap, the 24-year-old singer announced that she was just trying to keep her son out of the spotlight.
'I was terrified that this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put both me and my baby in danger," she said in a statement.
Spears, however, may have found a way to keep out of further trouble in moving vehicles. The expectant mother hired an ex-Navy officer (a midshipman, to be exact) last month for added protection and assistance when she's out and about.
Since joining Spears' camp, 28-year-old Perry Taylor has frequently been referred to by the tabloids as the singer's "manny," but he reportedly isn't on diaper duty for nine-month-old Sean Preston.
"Actually, he's more of a bodyguard," Taylor's mother, Caroline Moncure-Taylor, told the Baltimore Sun. "He is physical, active and fun-loving."
Then it sounds as if he's a good match for K-Fed, as well.