It's a sidewalk. If I lived there and walked there everyday, I wouldn't look down to check where I was stepping. Even without texting, someone could very easily have fallen in.
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Teen Girl Falls In Open Manhole While Texting
- Thread starter samcraig
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My first instinct is to say that both parties are at fault with the workers owning the majority of the blame. But actually thinking about it, I don't believe the girl's at fault. Even if she wasn't texting, she could have been turning to speak with her friend or looking somewhere else. Nobody expects there to be a hole in the middle of the sidewalk
How is the Samsung phone related?
It's a story about texting which people do on the iPhone all the time - and they do a lot more on the iPhone without paying attention to their surroundings. A better question is why you would post your lack of ability to see a relationship.
I heard that local construction workers were arriving at work with their McDonalds coffee being cold so they asked McDonalds to make the coffee hotter so it was still warm when they arrived at work. When normal customers got their coffee, the temperature was above the normal range and received burns, so they sued and ended up winning.
Ugh, she is from Staten Island. They should have just sealed the manhole while she was still down there. 
Did you see how big that manhole was though? It took up the entire sidewalk in that area, you'd see it from pretty far away if you weren't texting
If this was caught on video (I'm probably going to get bashed), I would have laughed. EVEN if it was me I would've laughed.
People are careless and that's what she gets. Yes the city should have had "Caution" or something, but at the same time she should've paid attention.
It's like people crossing the street while talking on the phone, with no sense of awareness. In NYC, I've seen a lot of people get hit and it's on BOTH parties.
nope....both there faults, you cant say walking and doing somthing else is an excuse.
you have a responsability when walking to PAY ATTENTION....same goes with driving, if you are driving a motor vehicle and hit and kill someone while texting....is it there fault for being in your way ?
give me a break, she and the city screwed up.
What ever happened to survival of the fittest? The law system and all the lawyers are bringing down America. Everything has become so frivolous and the common rebuttal to everything is "I'm going to sue you"... This is so stupid, the girl should have been looking where she was walking. Wouldn't the story be different if she wasn't paying attention while she was walking and texting and walked into the middle of the street where some guy driving his car swerved out of the way to avoid her crashes and dies? Of course, it would...
This is exactly the reason why society is plagued with retarded signs like "road slippery when wet" and inflated pricing. I once read that the average car's price has risen roughly $3,000 due to lawsuits and having to add more things to a vehicle only in the U.S.
EDIT: Even if they did have a sign that said, "Caution, Open Manhole", she would have fu*king waltzed right past that and fell into the manhole anyway.
This is exactly the reason why society is plagued with retarded signs like "road slippery when wet" and inflated pricing. I once read that the average car's price has risen roughly $3,000 due to lawsuits and having to add more things to a vehicle only in the U.S.
EDIT: Even if they did have a sign that said, "Caution, Open Manhole", she would have fu*king waltzed right past that and fell into the manhole anyway.
See txting whilst walking does land you in the ****. Tbh tho is this just an American thing? Sue for this sue for that? She was txting and walking. If she'd walking into the road and been knocked down who's fault would it have been?
To quote her 'i would have seen a bright color'd cone' well I'm sorry love but you didn't see a 2foot wide hole WTF makes you think you'd have seen a little cone??
To quote her 'i would have seen a bright color'd cone' well I'm sorry love but you didn't see a 2foot wide hole WTF makes you think you'd have seen a little cone??
+1
We don't have that here. Helmet laws, seatbelt laws, trophies for participating, you name it. We don't reward toughness or take personal responsibility anymore. It's now survival of the whiniest.
Unfortunately, you are one of the many people bringing up this McDonald's case while completely ignoring the actual facts of the event. Like the fact that normal coffee dropped in your lap is bloody painful but doesn't cause third degree burns, like in this case. The fact that McDonald's knew that they served coffee that wasn't just hot, but dangerously too hot, and that before this case they had settled a total SEVEN HUNDRED other cases where customers were hurt by the extreme temperature of their coffee, so they KNEW that they were wrong and were serving coffee at temperaturs that caused extreme danger to their customers, and continued with that practice to save money.
The case is well documented; I have never seen any mention of local construction workers, and it would be strange for McDonald's to make their coffee too hot all over the country for some construction workers.
Who cares if she was texting, talking to a friend or looking at the sky. You don't open holes in the middle of the sidewalk without some signs or things around it.
Ok, I agree she has some small responsibility.
But for those saying htat she'd see it if she wasn't texting, keep in mind that manhole is way below your site. Do you look down when you walk or ahead?
People do tend to miss a lot what is below them if there isn't anything sticking up. Especially if they get distracted by looking at other stuff around them or was turned around to talk to her friend. Lots of things could easily distract her from seeing something that would not catch her eye unless she looked at it (and she wasn't expecting to have to avoid a large hole in the sidewalk).
Large orange cones would probably catch some one's eyes in that kind of circumstance. They sit up higher so more closer to eye level, and they're orange and stick out. She may have even had a chance of noticing them out of the corner of her eye when she was texting.
So yes, I do think there is an arguement that the workers were neglectful. Maybe they did forget to get the cones but they should have left some one at the hole or at least been keeping a close enough eye to yell "watch out!" when they saw some one walking close.
Her texting did contribute, but I do think the larger responsibility goes to them. People get distracted while walking by all sorts of things that would easily keep them from noticing that large hole.
But for those saying htat she'd see it if she wasn't texting, keep in mind that manhole is way below your site. Do you look down when you walk or ahead?
People do tend to miss a lot what is below them if there isn't anything sticking up. Especially if they get distracted by looking at other stuff around them or was turned around to talk to her friend. Lots of things could easily distract her from seeing something that would not catch her eye unless she looked at it (and she wasn't expecting to have to avoid a large hole in the sidewalk).
Large orange cones would probably catch some one's eyes in that kind of circumstance. They sit up higher so more closer to eye level, and they're orange and stick out. She may have even had a chance of noticing them out of the corner of her eye when she was texting.
So yes, I do think there is an arguement that the workers were neglectful. Maybe they did forget to get the cones but they should have left some one at the hole or at least been keeping a close enough eye to yell "watch out!" when they saw some one walking close.
Her texting did contribute, but I do think the larger responsibility goes to them. People get distracted while walking by all sorts of things that would easily keep them from noticing that large hole.
Like a big truck next to the sideway and guys walking around with traffic cones?
The girl came completely out of the manhole, she is fine.
The rest is just a scam to make the city pay for a full body checkup. That's a way to replace public healthcare, too. I mean, MRI of the spine? I'd be more worried about my feet.
This. My 9 year old daughter would have fell in just walking with a friend if they were deep in conversation
The texting part is completely irrelevant, I myself have tripped on uneven sidewalk before because I wasn't looking down at my feet. With that said, the girl seems to be fine and a lawsuit for anything other than recovered medical bills is greedy.Who decided what the temperature of normal coffee will be? The fact 700 people out of possibly millions of customers made a mistake that caused them to get burned by coffee they bought means nothing. McDonalds did know that serving coffee at that temperature is what the majority of their customers want, simply because it tasted better. The same thing is done by many other businesses that sell brewed coffee, because they want to sell their product and have customers return. Instead of making people responsible for their silly actions we make rules and laws so people can blame others for their casual mistakes. An adult who is knowledgeable enough to drive a car would by most people be considered smart enough NOT to put hot items encased in a flexible container on a slanted seat between their legs. I seriously doubt if the women knew the coffee was 195 200 degrees Fahrenheit she would have acted any differently. Her actions are proof of her lackadaisical habits.
The same can be said of a person walking down a sidewalk and falling in a hole. This hole did not suddenly appear and could have and would have been avoided by normal people who care for their own safety. I would put my money on a blind person being able to avoid this hole over juvenile people (with good eye site). I suspect a blind person who actively uses public amenities will take responsibility for their own wellbeing and not expect others to hold their hand. For some unknown reason there are normal people who feel society must take care of them even though they are perfectly capable of doing it themselves.
Perhaps the thing dividing people on this issue (a bit) is geography.
Here in NYC - I DO (as do many) look down or at my surroundings while I walk. If you don't you can wind up getting bumped into from all around or tripping over something.
That's why it's even more surprising when people are too busy emailing or whatnot to pay attention and end up smacking into someone and then they look at THAT person like they did something wrong.
I can see how outside NYC this might not be the case...
Here in NYC - I DO (as do many) look down or at my surroundings while I walk. If you don't you can wind up getting bumped into from all around or tripping over something.
That's why it's even more surprising when people are too busy emailing or whatnot to pay attention and end up smacking into someone and then they look at THAT person like they did something wrong.
I can see how outside NYC this might not be the case...