Girl falls in open sewer while texting

[chemical_echo]

Someone posted this on facebook and it has me cracking up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hk-ru57A-c

 

A girl, too busy texting to look where she was going, fell into an open manhole while city workers were getting the cones. The girl claims that, had the cones been placed by the hole, she wouldn't have fallen in.

 

I wonder what her or her mother would say if she had been texting and crossed a busy intersection on a red light.

[ebl]

Sometime last year, the city of London, England, installed padding on their streetlight poles because people kept walking into them while texting.

 

I'm really not sure what to think about people who just can't go five minutes without communicating with someone. Most days I don't even turn my phone on, let alone talk on it when it is on.

 

Eric

[davisal771]

Yeah, the city shouldn't have to pay her damages. It's her fault, just think about it, you should be able to see the open man hole 15-20 feet away, and if she was texting for that long without paying attention to anything else, she should be held responsible.

[Vekoma Fan Boy]

Wow. Just wow. Thats retarded. If she can't look up every few seconds to see where shes going, then maybe she should've fallen into a shithole... Sounds like a nice wakeup call.

 

But really, its not THAT hard to look up every few seconds to see where you're going while you are texting. I actually don't even have to look up from my phone to pay attention to my surroundings and what's in front of me.

 

 

 

Vekoma "Peripheral vision FTW" Fan Boy

[ginzo]

I agree that cones should have been placed before the manhole cover was removed. However, that doesn't absolve this young woman of her responsibility to watch where the fuck she's walking.

[AllenA07]

I'm taking the side that the girl was a moron for not at least having an idea of where she was walking, and that the city was negligent for not putting cones around the open hole in the ground.

[BaMiTsPaT]

Thank god she isn't old enough to drive...yet

[cedarpointfangirl]

Too funny!! What a dumb ass!!!! I see so many people not paying attention when they text and walk. I was just about walked into yesterday going into work. I had to move out of her way!!

[Rotura Violenta]

Wow. I bet there's a swarm of salivating lawyers buzzing around their house now.

 

Sounds like a candidate for a Darwin Award rather than compensation. But as it's the city she'll probably go after, she's bound to get a sizeable chunk of money. That way she can just hire someone to do her all her future texting for her, or to serve as her eyes when she's avidly pecking away at the screen and walks out into oncoming traffic and what-not.

 

People are awesome!

[Angry_Gumball]

Can see 2 sides of this. The city should be responsible as they didn't exactly have safety in mind. They should have had all barriers in place before removing the cover. It would be like me dispatching a ride, leave gates open, leave the controls to grab a drink nearby, return, and finally close the air gates. Whether if that can happen given these rides' safety systems today is another story. On the other hand, texting and walking are a dangerous thing. I was skating home the other day minding my own side of the sidewalk when some stupid chick texting suddenly makes a scene saying I almost hit her with my board.

 

Hello...if you had looked up to see what's coming towards you in the first place, then you would have had the sense to move. You can't help it hear the click-click of my wheels against the sidewalk either. She (the girl I dealt with) might as well walk into the busy street into oncoming traffic.

 

I do admit, I've tried texting while walking. I notice my speed drops considerably. If it's a long text, I will stop and finish the text before I continue moving. Of course, I'll move out of the way. I also happen to see several feet in front of me as I'm looking at the ground. Lastly, about the cones, I doubt those would have been seen. Some guy was walking up our street yesterday and stepped on a broken plate in the ground, about a foot sudden drop. There were cones in place. And this guy wasn't texting.

[Pure Impurity]

I don't even have a cell phone! :Shock:

 

But, yeah; she is an outright EEEEdiot.

[Band-Aid]

Serves her right. She shouldn't be texting while walking.

 

Why don't people just stop and find a place to sit down before texting?

[dandaman]

Appropriate parallel to the state of modern teenagers in three... two...

[AllenA07]

The more I think about it, the more I actually agree with the girl that the city was at fault. People walk distracted all the time, and generally without much chance of danger. I'm not going to walk out into the busy street because I'm going to see cars in front of me, but I don't generally look at my feet as I walk. I've walked and texted many times, I've walked while eating, I've walked while talking to people, I've even walked while reading a book. If there is something at eye level I'm going to see it and stop, if there is a hole in the ground however then I'm going to be taking a dive. I know not all of you will agree with me, but the more I think about it the city is at fault and should have put up cones to warn people.

[knottslover77]

the best part was " and she lost a shoe!"

 

--Jay

[Vekoma Fan Boy]

The more I think about it, the more I actually agree with the girl that the city was at fault. People walk distracted all the time, and generally without much chance of danger. I'm not going to walk out into the busy street because I'm going to see cars in front of me, but I don't generally look at my feet as I walk. I've walked and texted many times, I've walked while eating, I've walked while talking to people, I've even walked while reading a book. If there is something at eye level I'm going to see it and stop, if there is a hole in the ground however then I'm going to be taking a dive. I know not all of you will agree with me, but the more I think about it the city is at fault and should have put up cones to warn people.

 

I know you have a legal background, but this is just my 2c.

 

In the defense of the non-idiotic people, cones aren't exactly eye level either. I really don't think it's THAT difficult to pay attention to what is in front of you. To be totally honest, if this same thing had happened to me, I WOULD be pissed. At myself. For being dumb enough to fall into an open manhole. Cones or no cones, a large, smelly hole in the ground is not very inconspicuous. Compensating this girl and her family would be like handing out idiot insurance.

 

Now is the city completely free of blame? No. There SHOULD have been some sort of warning device in place, but just because there wasn't doesn't give someone an excuse to get paid for being an inattentive dumbass. Just because the directions on your bicycle don't say anything about riding it off of the roof of your house being dangerous, doesn't mean its a good idea to do so.

 

What is the moral of this rant? Pay attention to your surroundings and rely on yourself for your own safety, not someone else, because you can only trust YOU 100%.

 

Again, just my 2 cents. I'm not trying to incite an argument or anything of the sort.

[mightbeawannabe]

The more I think about it, the more I actually agree with the girl that the city was at fault. People walk distracted all the time, and generally without much chance of danger. I'm not going to walk out into the busy street because I'm going to see cars in front of me, but I don't generally look at my feet as I walk. I've walked and texted many times, I've walked while eating, I've walked while talking to people, I've even walked while reading a book. If there is something at eye level I'm going to see it and stop, if there is a hole in the ground however then I'm going to be taking a dive. I know not all of you will agree with me, but the more I think about it the city is at fault and should have put up cones to warn people.

 

I agree with you, the city is at fault, but your own stupidity is your own stupidity. Nobody elses problem really. If you can't trust yourself enough to walk across a street without giving yourself a concussion or contusion or what have you, you really shouldn't be walking down the street in the first place.

 

That's just me though.

[themeparkman25]

And this is why America will never have a mega lite. Someone will get a bruise on their thigh and everyone and their mothers will be at the courthouse up in arms about how dangerous it is.

 

BUT, in defense of her, I found an iphone app that has the texting background a live video of what is in front of you.

[Hhappy]

Next time she will be busy texting, walk through a red light and get hit by a car..

 

come on.. pay attention to where you're going.. sigh

[AllenA07]

No problem with the people who disagree with me, I'm just giving my opinion as well, doesn't make me more right than anybody else. If this girl did decide she wanted to sue she would likely get introduced to the wonderful world of comparative negligence. Basically the court would figure how how at fault both parties were, and that is all she would recover. So basically if the jury finds the city 1% at fault they would pay 1% of the victims total damages. It basically is how we prevent unjust enrichment. My guess is absolutely nothing will come of this, since in the video it seemed like the girl was unhurt. Maybe she could sue the city for $50 (or $25 for one) for her lost shoe?

[Jew]

I'm sure the workers were violating some sort of OSHA regulations by not blocking the area off...

 

I'd also be willing to bet that every single person in this thread saying the girl was at fault has been in a situation where you've tripped, bumped into something or someone, and so forth because you weren't paying attention. We're humans. The circumstances are just funnier and a little more unique in this girls case, but I am sure we've all been victims of our own carelessness numerous times as well....

[the ghost]

^ Theres a difference between bumping into something and falling into a sewer. For one sewers are relatively large, large enough for the girl to fall through. Honestly the city should have done something, but I hate texting in general. It seems so pointless considering had she been calling someone she should have been fine. I will call someone over texting someone any day and there are very few times when you are able to text but you are unable to call someone. I am a teenager and I am able to text, but I do occasionally, but calling is a much better alternative. Texting is causing way too many accidents for what it is.

[beatle11]

The girl should be more careful and I'm sure she will be now, but at the same time, the city workers should have blocked the area off.

[ebl]

The trouble with the world today is that everyone is expected to "multi-task" all the time. Squeeze as much activity into the alloted time as you possibly can. Doing one thing at a given time just isn't efficient. It still floors me that people text and read while driving their car. Are they nuts? Driving is a full time job in itself.

 

While I agree that the city might have made more effort to warn pedestrians of their impending freefall ride, I think that HHappy said it best a few posts ago: "...come on.. pay attention to where you're going..."

 

Eric

[moinab]

^Eric already read about this on my fb page.

 

We were driving in the left lane, during rush hour on I-4, in downtown Orlando, yesterday. A woman behind us almost rear-ended us, not once, but TWICE, because she was texting while driving her Yukon (we were in a Sonata.) My husband felt it was a good idea to change lanes, at that point. Within minutes of our changing lanes, she did, in fact, rear-end the car in front of her!

 

Pay attention to where you are going!!!!