I'm sick of these people. And by 'these' people I mean these morons who disappear into their little devices and ignore everything around them. She could have walked out in front of my truck while living in virtual land and been struck, yet it would somehow be my fault.

Nope, not one fricking bit of sympathy from me, and I hope she loses spectacularly when this gets to court.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
Her attorney is going to argue that there should have been barriers around the hole that a distracted person should have hit prior to being able to fall into the hole. He'll probably also argue that the doors weren't tall enough to prevent someone from falling in, and thus are not an adequate barrier.

The defense attorney should counter with it is her responsibility to watch where she is walking on a public street

Yep and I suspect her attorney is going to get the best of this debate. She reasonably would have a presumption of not encountering this type of hazard on a public sidewalk. Most safety procedures and and devices are designed to protect stupid people that wouldn't be able to get through life without them.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
She should be charged stupid tax.

Oooh Democrats love taxes. Maybe change the name, get a celeb to front for it, I bet we could get it passed.

Best thing, none of us would ever have to pay it!

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
She should be charged stupid tax.

Oooh Democrats love taxes. Maybe change the name, get a celeb to front for it, I bet we could get it passed.

Best thing, none of us would ever have to pay it!

Or the Republicans could pass a "100% of punitive damages" tax.

Either way works.

quote:

Originally posted by LDD:
New Jersey is a modified comparative fault state.

If the jury decides that she is more at fault than the other party, she gets nothing.

And seeing how she was on her cell phone, her case is going be pretty tough to win.

Have you ever spent time in New Jersey?

I have. I would not take that bet.

Looks 100% planned to me. When she initially hit the barrier it looked like she forced herself over. I would bet money that this was planned for lawsuit purposes. People do it all the time around here.

I had an uncle who was legally blind, and I myself am seriously nearsighted when not wearing contacts. My uncle normally didn't walk with a special cane. He got around OK but did have several falls due to curbs and such over his lifetime. I can imagine the fall in the video happening to someone with a serious visual impairment if they failed to look at the ground right at the instant when they are possibly capable of seeing the danger. When you have really poor vision you have consciously to work at interpreting the blurry images life presents you, and sometimes you miss stuff, or misinterpret.

If the woman is really legally blind as claimed, it's possible she just looked at her phone in that instant, as opposed to being oblivious as she strolled towards the hole. To me, in the video it doesn't look like she looks at the phone until she's almost to the hole. Also, the barrier is similar in color and brightness to the pavement, and it doesn't look like there was a hard shadow on the side of the barrier, which makes it hard for the visually impaired to detect.

Any quasi-intelligent person would quickly conclude that this was HER fault. Sheesh - she wasn't even watching where she was walking!

Unfortunately, a lot of people who sit on juries aren't even quasi-intelligent!

A woman drives through the McDonald's drive through, orders a HOT coffee, places it between her legs and squeezes the cup with her thighs, sustaining burns to her legs. The jury found that it was McDonald's' fault! When questioned about it, the (female) jury foreman said, "If you had seen the photographs of the woman's legs and heard the testimony about how painful the experience was, you would have found for the plaintiff, too."

No, lady, it wouldn't matter how much I felt sympathy for the lady - the question was, 'Who is at fault?' and the answer was more than obvious to anybody with a modicum of intelligence.

If the lady who walked into a hole in the ground can get the sympathy of a jury, the jury will find for her.

quote:

Originally posted by AirmanJeff:
Looks 100% planned to me. When she initially hit the barrier it looked like she forced herself over. I would bet money that this was planned for lawsuit purposes. People do it all the time around here.

Forward momentum, high center of gravity, low barrier, reportedly 67 year old, legally blind diabetic going head first into a 6-foot hole; I'll take that bet

quote:

If you are legally blind, you cannot just climb into a car and start driving and expect everyone to get out of your way because you cannot see.

Hell, that doesn't stop most of the sighted drivers around here!

quote:

Or the Republicans could pass a "100% of punitive damages" tax.

Missouri does that. It's not 100%, but the state feels it is entitled to punitive damages even though they are not an involved party. They take half.

quote:

Forward momentum, high center of gravity, low barrier, reportedly 67 year old, legally blind diabetic going head first into a 6-foot hole; I'll take that bet

Yeah. Do not see too many slip and fall artists in their late 60's. There are certain requirements for safety. I always kid the telephone guy about putting out the cones in front and in back of their vehicles. People at times are not very attentive and do stupid things. I give her the benefit of the doubt. News account said she was seriously injured.

This is Plainfield, formally known as the Queen City, was beautiful with many victorian homes and carriage houses (Now occupied by 5 families) until the 70's. It was then boastfully called by it's new citizens the Chocolate City. It became so bad the Mulenberg hospital went bankrupt and closed. It is now full of, pic a flavor of Illegal Aliens.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: downtownv,

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
She should be charged stupid tax.

She would probably get government assistance to pay it for her.

quote:

Originally posted by nasig:

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
Her attorney is going to argue that there should have been barriers around the hole that a distracted person should have hit prior to being able to fall into the hole. He'll probably also argue that the doors weren't tall enough to prevent someone from falling in, and thus are not an adequate barrier.

The defense attorney should counter with it is her responsibility to watch where she is walking on a public street

Yep and I suspect her attorney is going to get the best of this debate. She reasonably would have a presumption of not encountering this type of hazard on a public sidewalk. Most safety procedures and and devices are designed to protect stupid people that wouldn't be able to get through life without them.

I read elsewhere that she was partially blind and did not have normal discernment of objects that were not contrasting in color.

flashguy

Could be settled out of court. Ambulance chasing atty knows how much the gov't is willing to pay to make it go away.

I saw a cartoon, an atty tells the judge "the $500K settlement will only cover my fee, the plaintiff should get something".

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:.....I read elsewhere that she was partially blind and did not have normal discernment of objects that were not contrasting in color.

flashguy

Seems someone with documented vision disability/impairment should be proactive in taking precautionary measures when out walking alone. Contributory negligence??

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:.....I read elsewhere that she was partially blind and did not have normal discernment of objects that were not contrasting in color.

flashguy

Seems someone with documented vision disability/impairment should be proactive in taking precautionary measures when out walking alone. Contributory negligence??

Oh, I don't think it excuses her--but it could be seen as a contributing influence.

flashguy

This is a great article to inform those who have balance and mobility issues. Sounds like the woman could have used some of this advice.
http://chicago.suntimes.com/ne...ensure-youll-get-up/

One of my dumbest moments was I was on the phone once and walked smack dag into the pole of a no parking sign on the sidewalk once. I don't think I can blame the city for that.