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Texting teen falls into sewer; parents will sue.

Aragorn

Aragorn

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The teen naturally comes across as an idiot, part of the growing number of people too busy with personal minutiae to pay attention to their surroundings and where they're going -- which becomes even more scary when they're doing it while driving speeding metal on wheels. The enabling and victim-menality parents seem to come across as a lot worse.

It reminds me of Denzel Washington's opening scene in Philadelphia where his would-be client is trying to sue even though he saw and ignored every warning sign and all common sense, and Denzel says they have a case.


Complete MSNBC story.

We all know that walking and texting is a tough combination -- but a Staten Island teen learned the hard way when she fell into an uncovered sewer manhole while trying to send a message.

Now, the family of Alexa Longueira, 15, intends to sue.

The girl suffered a fright and some scrapes on her arms back after she dropped into the hole on Victory Boulevard.

.....

For its part, the Department of Environmental Protection said its workers had turned away briefly to grab some cones when the incident occurred.

.....

The family said they will file a lawsuit -- for what, though, is not immediately clear. Her mother, Kim Longueira, said it doesn't matter that her daughter was walking and texting, and also, the 'gross' factor that can't be ignored.

.....
 
Yeah I was in the neighboorhood when it happened. Suffice it to say, I LOLed when my buddy told me what went on :lol:
 
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.
 
Hopefully the lawsuit is fought, and not settled, so that this idiot's family will be out their time and money for attorney fees. Frivolous lawsuits suck.
 
"Oh my God, it was putrid," she said. "One of her sneakers is still down there"
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In that case I think we should nail this bitch for littering!
 
Evidently there is some blame to assign to the people doing the roadworks, but the damages should be appropriate. I don't suppose you can toss the case as clearly it shouldn't have been possible to fall down the hole, that's probably in their own internal guidelines regarding safety on a site of work.

The girl would not have fallen down the hole if she had been paying attention, so that should be taken into account, and she was not hurt badly either. Falling into some smelly stuff is not life changing or overly traumatic and she has learned a valuable lesson about watching where she is going.

Give her $50 for the fright or something and tell her not to be such a twat in future.
 
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.
Click to expand...

Ditto

There were multiple workers at the scene. They could have easily left one worker to block pedestrians (or gotten the cones before they opened the hole).
 
Reimbursing the cost of any lost or damaged clothing and any medical bills from her brief hospital visit should cover the DEP's negligence.

She's fine though, and it was as much her negligence as theirs, so that's all the damages they should get. If they try and claim emotional distress or any other BS from having to feel icky, throw the case out.
 
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. Anybody could have fallen in, texting or not. I don't think the parents are looking to get rich and nor should they. A pedestrian was injured because the road crew failed to ensure public safety.
 
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.
 
You've lost me.

I'm not arguing against anyone, I'm merely playing "devil's advocate" for the parent's justification of a lawsuit.

Like SPOCKED said: "Anybody could have fallen in, texting or not."

Just that if it had been a blind person instead of a careless teenager, the consequences and lawsuit probably wouldn't be seen as quite so frivolous.
 
I'd argue that a blind person would be less likely to fall in as a: they'd have a dog and/or b: they'd have a cane.
 
Lawsuit sure, but she was hardly hurt, all she got was a bit of a shock and some smelly clothes. The amount she deserves to get for that is not worth sueing for.

Of course, she'll probably get a lot more than that, but she shouldn't.
 
Locutus of Bored said:
Reimbursing the cost of any lost or damaged clothing and any medical bills from her brief hospital visit should cover the DEP's negligence.

She's fine though, and it was as much her negligence as theirs, so that's all the damages they should get. If they try and claim emotional distress or any other BS from having to feel icky, throw the case out.
Click to expand...
^This.

Pulling her out probably made the workers feel icky.
 
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