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Teen Girl Falls In Open Manhole While Texting

SOME responsibility, maybe..... but leaving it open without some kind of warning is very negligent. Young children very often run around without paying a lot of attention and could have easily fallen in, resulting in a lot more serious injury or death.
 
I definitely feel that people don't take enough personal responsibility. Like the lady and the McDonald's hot coffee. Even if that coffee were actually boiling, it's not like the lady didn't know it was hot.
 
Take her to get an MRI for her spine? Are you serious! Rack up the bills on purpose when it's totally not needed!!! I'm sad to say that I lived in that area where the manhole was left open all my life up until a few months ago...I'm ashamed at what people will do to make a quick easy buck...this is why the economy is in shambles...idiots...
 
ulbador said:
I definitely feel that people don't take enough personal responsibility. Like the lady and the McDonald's hot coffee. Even if that coffee were actually boiling, it's not like the lady didn't know it was hot.
Click to expand...

I use 15 year old events to try and prove my points too.
 
flashgj said:
SOME responsibility, maybe..... but leaving it open without some kind of warning is very negligent. Young children very often run around without paying a lot of attention and could have easily fallen in, resulting in a lot more serious injury or death.
Click to expand...

ulbador said:
I definitely feel that people don't take enough personal responsibility. Like the lady and the McDonald's hot coffee. Even if that coffee were actually boiling, it's not like the lady didn't know it was hot.
Click to expand...

I agree with both points. It was very negligent of the city to leave the manhole uncovered - even very briefly.

At the same time - this teen was busy texting and not paying attention to her surroundings - which is all too common. I see it all the time in NYC with people texting or reading emails while walking across streets or down sidewalks. And these are the same people that when they bump into people - they act annoyed as if it's not their fault.

So yes - the city is ultimately at fault here. But I don't think the teen is completely in the right. More appropriately - I don't think her response or attitude is correct. She wants to act as if her behavior had NO bearing on her accident.
 
wow....both pretty bad imo...

however, if you take away the texting....honestly, people could and have fell into manholes or something similar before....the fact that it was opened before it was coned off is the city's fault and they should take full responsibility.

Say it was your grandmother walking there and she fell in....yes, shes elderly..but i big orange cone would stop her at some point when she ran into it.
 
grantsdale said:
I use 15 year old events to try and prove my points too.
Click to expand...

Sorry if I used the most recognizable example of this that I could think of to make my point. Whether it happened 15 years ago or 5 minutes ago, the point is still valid.
 
HighLife420 said:
wow....both pretty bad imo...

however, if you take away the texting....honestly, people could and have fell into manholes or something similar before....the fact that it was opened before it was coned off is the city's fault and they should take full responsibility.

Say it was your grandmother walking there and she fell in....yes, shes elderly..but i big orange cone would stop her at some point when she ran into it.
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Well yes. My annoyance is more with her reaction if being surprised that she fell and that her texting might have been the cause. She seems to think that the only factor was the open manhole. The manhole being open was wrong. But there was a contributing factor to her, specific, accident.
 
Maybe the city told her that she was walking on the sidewalk wrong. The manhole being open wasn't any kind of error... its just that the street was designed for her to be walking on the other side of the street.

LOL
 
I'm more concerned with this prevalent thought in this country about when something bad happens, find someone to blame it on.

They left it open. Yes, problem.
She didn't look where she was going. Bigger problem. If she couldn't see an open manhole, who's to say she would of seen a cone? I mean, a man hole isn't small by any means.

I'd chalk this one up to a lesson she needed to learn. Watch where you're going.
 
When does the parent teach the 15 year old about individual responsibility about your own actions? All I saw was a crew make a mistake, acknowledge and apologize for it, and then see the mother say it was their fault that her daughter wasn't watching where her feet were going.

I wonder if she taught her to look both ways before crossing the street or if she taught her to just walk and blame the car that hit her. :confused:
 
New Thread: “I fell down a manhole while texting with my iPhone. My iphone was immersed in the muck. Moisture indicators are red. What do I do? Oh, and I got a little scratch on my shoulder.”

Seriously, kill the lawyers. Stuff like this should be used to clean up the gene pool.
 
I blame both the girl and the city. The city should have covered the hole when they were done; they're lucky it was JUST her that fell in, and not a little kid or a pet. On the same note, the girl should be looking where she's going. What if she would have wandered into the street and was hit?

Apparently texting while walking is as dangerous as doing it while driving now :p
 
Oh, I'd love to work her claim!
No matter what she was doing she had a reasonable expectation to walk along a safe street and not accidentally stumble into an open manhole. In this case the city is liable because they failed to alert possible pedestrians about danger there.
If there had been cones and she distracted as she was, had missed them, then she'd have noone but herself to blame.
 
The city workers are clearly at fault and should have put something around the hole to draw attention to it, but it's still a little ridiculous that the girl was so engrossed in texting that she didn't see a giant hole that takes up the entire sidewalk. I'm sure she'll try to sue for millions.
 

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ulbador said:
I definitely feel that people don't take enough personal responsibility. Like the lady and the McDonald's hot coffee. Even if that coffee were actually boiling, it's not like the lady didn't know it was hot.
Click to expand...

In the McDonald's case, the company knew their coffee was much hotter than normal, and had previously paid many times for injuries from it.

When a grandmother spilled hers and had to have skin grafts, she asked McDonald's to simply pay for the medical bills as they had usually done. McDonalds decided to refuse in her case. That ended up being a mistake, especially since they had a history of previous such payments.
 
ulbador said:
Sorry if I used the most recognizable example of this that I could think of to make my point. Whether it happened 15 years ago or 5 minutes ago, the point is still valid.
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Actually, it's not if you'd take the time to research the actual facts, basis and outcome of that case.

As to the OP, I agree there appears to be some culpability on the part of the distracted sewer diver, but it seems the primary negligence is by the city workers. It's lucky the kid wasn't seriously injured.
BTW, I heard the gorilla glass broke her fall without cracking.
 
American's.. wanna sue everybody and everything. :rolleyes:

how bout negligence on your OWN part for not paying attention?

unfortunately, the city will likely lose.
 
I agree that the city is a fault, I agree that the girl should/could have paid more attention to her surroundings. The problem with this is that this is where the story should end. The girl is okay, everyone got lucky, the city works to prevent these sort of issues from occurring again. But no, she will sue, get millions and there go my tax dollars.
 
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