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Texting teen falls into sewer; parents will sue.

Sadly the workers are negligent in not containing the area before opening the cover. I'm certain there are city regulations and worker manuals that lay out a precise set or procedures that were not followed in this case.

Result:

City settles out of court for a nominal 6 figure sum, not disclosed to the public.

Workers get ceremonial slap on the wrist, no lingering effect.

Girl gets cash to validate her foolishness, learns little to nothing.

Taxpayers end up holding the bag
 
Rii said:
The site wasn't appropriately cordoned and a pedestrian was injured as a result. The DEP certainly bears at least partial responsibility for the incident.
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Yeah, they do. I'd say the girl contributed to the negligence, but they should have had somebody watching it while other people got cones.

That being said, her injuries seem negligible.
 
SPOCKED said:
Naturally comes across as an idiot..? :wtf: Texting while driving is idiocy, but while walking? I think she comes across as a fairly typical teenager. It may have been her daily walk and on this day there was an unexpected difference.
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Not expecting something to be there isn't a valid reason to not look where you are going. If I walk along the street with a blindfold on and fall down a hole, it is my fault. If she was so engrossed in texting that she was totally ignorant of her surroundings, why should this be any different? Quite frankly I am sick and tired of the myriad of excuses produced as to why people should be protected from everything rather than being responsible for their own safety. EDIT: To avoid any confusion, that last sentence is just a general peeve not a response to Spocked's post.
 
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Da'an said:
What if she was blind and wielding a white cane instead of a cellphone?
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Her cane would strike the side of the open manhole and her brain would go "oh, shit, an open manhole! Better walk around it." She'd proceed to tap around the hole to ascertain a safe route, and then would go on her merry way.

What's your point?
 
I think we have to stop asking Da'an what the point was. This dead horse has been well flogged.
 
My "point" is that if it had been someone who was blind, they probably would have fallen down into an open sewer too.
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Probably not. Either their cane would "warn" them that something was amiss, or a guide dog would.

As for the stupid teen, look, you need to be aware of your surroundings when you walk. If not, if anything is amiss, you're toast. That teen would be a mugger/attacker's dream, someone not paying attention to their surroundings.

The mother needs to SHUT THE FUCK UP. Here's a thought, you greedy bitch. Next time, tell your daughter that if she needs to text, to step aside and stop somewhere to do it. Quit trying to put your hands into taxpayers' pockets.

I'm a parent and while I'd be irked at the workers, I'd be just as irked at my kid. And there is no need to "sue" for every little thing that goes awry. Had the kid been paying attention to her surroundings instead of texting, she would have easily sidestepped the problem.

I think what makes me so mad about this is that the parent wants to sue. She seems to not realize that her daughter bears some responsibility for this. But as was said, is that she'll probably get some money and the lesson learned won't be "watch where you're going at all times," but "if someone fucks up, sue the hell out of them."
 
What amazes me is that they plan to sue, but they don't know for what yet. I suppose they're searching for an ambulance chaser to tell them exactly what they can sue for.
 
If they do sue, I hope the city makes them look like complete fools for trying to pull this off. Watch where you're going for god's sake. If this girl wasn't paying attention and fell into a manhole, what makes you think she'd have seen all the orange signs indicating roadwork had the area been marked 'properly'? How about if she crossed the street when the stoplight indicated DO NOT CROSS and she got hit by a car? Would they sue the driver of that car for her failure to stop? This case should be thrown out right away. If she can't see a manhole is open, how do we know she'd see all the damn signs had they been there?
 
Rii said:
The site wasn't appropriately cordoned and a pedestrian was injured as a result. The DEP certainly bears at least partial responsibility for the incident.
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It's too bad that people can bank a payday because they refused to look out for their own well being.

Da'an said:
My "point" is that if it had been someone who was blind, they probably would have fallen down into an open sewer too.

Sure the teen was careless for not paying attention, but whoever was responsible for the sewer being uncovered to begin with was dangerously negligent.
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Probably not, as the blind person would most likely have been much more diligent. They use that cane to see where they are going and if there are any obstacles in their way, ya know.
 
To be fair I am sure we have all tripped over things or stepped in poop or did things, simply because we failed to notice them. I once almost sat on my baby sister who was laying on a couch, for example. Also even though we are all complaining about her texting, I bet you all of us has done things like talk on a cellphone while walking, or eat food or drink something. I'm not sure if texting is all that different from those things. I don't think she deserves alot of money. Just enough to replace her damaged clothes but I don't see how this incident makes her stupid. The mom though,sounds like a greedy bitch who is trying to milk the situation for money, she doesn't deserve.

Jason
 
my first thought, stupid kid. next up, i wonder why the workers didnt block off the area before removing the manhole cover. next thought, was the man hole on the side walk? followed by, shouldnt she have noticed a crew of guys working on the sidewalk ahead of her (they'd at least have a vehicle there and be setting up/moving about). then, wait, she lost her shoe, but not her phone... wouldnt that phone fall into the sewer with her? realizing, as she fell she probably dropped the phone above ground...

finally, i wish i could come up with a joke about a dropped call, but i got nothing...
 
I have some thoughts on her falling into the open hole because she was too busy texting:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!


Wait. I got more thoughts:

AH HAHAHAH HAHAHA HAHAHA HA.


As an addendum:

MUWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!
 
Da'an said:
Maestro said:
Da'an said:
What if she was blind and wielding a white cane instead of a cellphone?
Click to expand...
Her cane would strike the side of the open manhole and her brain would go "oh, shit, an open manhole! Better walk around it." She'd proceed to tap around the hole to ascertain a safe route, and then would go on her merry way.
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:lol: You're quite right. :lol:
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I've worked with the blind. I do have credibility to speak on the matter. When it comes to getting one's mobility from a white cane, the blind don't fuck around.
 
Throw the case out.

Anyone paying attention (safety equipment up or not) would've seen the open manhole and walked around it.

If her head wasn't stuck in her blackberry she would've been fine. Some scrapes, dirty clothes and an "icky" experience don't a lawsuit make.
 
Braxton said:
If this girl wasn't paying attention and fell into a manhole, what makes you think she'd have seen all the orange signs indicating roadwork had the area been marked 'properly'?
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What makes you think she wouldn't have? One is far more difficult to miss than the other.

I take it that you consider the near-universal practice of demarcating work sites in a highly visible manner to be a waste of time?
 
I can't believe they're trying to make a case out of this - no wonder our courts are overworked, between shit like this and the overabundance of victimless "crimes" on the books.
 
My guess is there will be summary judgment on this case (if they don't settle out of court). The construction workers should have put signs up, so they're liable, but the damages are limited because the girl was contributorily negligent. Also, she got startled, that's not much in damages. The end result is not a lot of money.
 
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