Teenager Falls Into Manhole While Texting [Telecom]

[Monty Solomon]

Teenager Falls Into Manhole While Texting

Michael Barkoviak - July 13, 2009 7:46 AM

A Staten Island teenage learns the hard way that texting and walking
can be disastrous

A teenager walking along the streets in Staten Island recently
suffered an embarrassing mistake when she walked into an open sewer
while sending text messages on her cell phone.

Alexa Longueira, 15, suffered deep cuts and bruises after she fell
through a manhole that was uncovered and reportedly left unattended.
Two New York City Department of Environmental Protection workers were
planning on flushing the sewer, left the manhole cover off, and
walked away without putting up a warning sign or orange cones.

...

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=15661

***** Moderator's Note *****

_ANYONE_ who submits a joke about falling into you-know-what will be
struck by lightning!

[Steven Lichter]

Monty Solomon wrote:
> Teenager Falls Into Manhole While Texting
>
> Michael Barkoviak - July 13, 2009 7:46 AM
>
> A Staten Island teenage learns the hard way that texting and walking
> can be disastrous
>
> A teenager walking along the streets in Staten Island recently
> suffered an embarrassing mistake when she walked into an open sewer
> while sending text messages on her cell phone.
>
> Alexa Longueira, 15, suffered deep cuts and bruises after she fell
> through a manhole that was uncovered and reportedly left unattended.
> Two New York City Department of Environmental Protection workers were
> planning on flushing the sewer, left the manhole cover off, and
> walked away without putting up a warning sign or orange cones.

Now she intends to bring legal action against the city.

--
The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2009 I Kill Spammers, inc, A Rot in Hell. Co.

***** Moderator's Note *****

IANALB I'd say she has a case: it sounds like an "attractive nuisance".

[Steven Lichter]

There was a follow up on CNN HLN today, it seems the city workers took
the cover off, then stepped a few feed away to get the tube to go around
the hole, though as I learned in an underground, you get the safety
stuff out before you open the hole.

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Monty Solomon <mo...@roscom.com> wrote:

>_ANYONE_ who submits a joke about falling into you-know-what will be
>struck by lightning!

Hows about

Padding to protect pedestrians

Padded lampposts are being trialled in a London street to protect inattentive
pedestrians.

A pilot scheme has been launched in Brick Lane after it was found to have the highest
number of 'walking and texting' injuries in the country.

A study carried out by 118 118 found one in ten people has hurt themselves while
focused on their mobile phone screen.

The charity Living Streets is so concerned that it has teamed up with the directory
enquiries service to test a scheme to wrap up the nation's lampposts.

A poll will be carried out on Brick Lane to gauge the response of locals.

If successful, the concept will be rolled out in Birmingham, Manchester, and
Liverpool.

http://itn.co.uk/e08f352d47d558169dddc9f53c0c8d00.html

Dated Tue Mar 4 2008 so long before April Fools day.

Now I must admit to walking into a telephone pole myself once in my younger years.
However the particularly gorgeous woman was well worth the bruise.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Tony's Main MS Access pages - http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/
Granite Fleet Manager http://www.granitefleet.com/

[Gordon Burditt]

>Teenager Falls Into Manhole While Texting
>
>Michael Barkoviak - July 13, 2009 7:46 AM
>
>A Staten Island teenage learns the hard way that texting and walking
>can be disastrous
>
>A teenager walking along the streets in Staten Island recently
>suffered an embarrassing mistake when she walked into an open sewer
>while sending text messages on her cell phone.

I once witnessed an adult talking on a cell phone almost walk into
an elevator shaft. There were a number of signs out warning that
work was being done on some of the elevators. There was a very
hard-to-miss giant spool of elevator cable in the middle of the
floor just outside the 6 elevators. The cell-phone-occupied adult
carefully walked around the signs, ignored the maintenance man
yelling, and only stopped when the maintenance man blocked the
entrance to the elevator with his body.

Another adult was crossing the street talking on the phone and
walked into the side of a moving DART train, dropping the cell
phone. She reached under the train, got the cell phone (I'm surprised
she still had fingers), resumed talking on the phone, and ran into
the train again.

Another man at the same corner walked into a street lamp pole while
talking on his cell phone. Four times. It would have been more
but the cell phone fell down a storm drain and he couldn't get it
back.

One alarmed passenger tried yelling at the driver talking on a cell
phone to inform him he was headed straight for a lake. When he
didn't respond, she jumped out of the moving car, then texted him
to stop. He was able to turn around before getting stuck in the
lake, but the car needed some repairs from water damage.

[Steven Lichter]

Sounds like a series of TV ads for Mercury Insurance a few years ago; a
woman driving an RV, put the vehicle is cruise control and going to the
back of it to make coffee, or the guy that was cleaning parts with gas,
then putting it down the drain, then sitting in the bathroom and smoking
a cigarette.

[Thad Floryan]

On 7/17/2009 9:07 AM, Steven Lichter wrote:
> [...]

> Sounds like a series of TV ads for Mercury Insurance a few years ago; a
> woman driving an RV, put the vehicle is cruise control and going to the
> back of it to make coffee, or the guy that was cleaning parts with gas,
> then putting it down the drain, then sitting in the bathroom and smoking
> a cigarette.

Hah, hah! That is FUNNY! Fortunately my coffee cup was on the table. :-)

I know this is w-a-y off-topic but I just uploaded 4 videos that are in a
similar vein; feel welcome to view and/or download:

AGF insurance re: a telescope lens:

<http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/AGF_telescope.flv> [1.6 MB]
<http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/AGF_lens.wmv> [2.6 MB]

Two Ford UK ads:

<http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/FordBird.mpeg> [1 MB]
<http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/FordCat.mpeg> [.9 MB]

On-topic: the telephone excuse machine:

<http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/phone_excuse_machine.flv> [5.7 MB]

[Steven Lichter]

You will notice all of your screens at your house have been threaded and
your car has been marked by my wifes cats.*

--
The only good spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today?
(c) 2009 I Kill Spammers, inc, A Rot in Hell. Co.

* (The fordcat.mpeg, shows a cat jumping on the car, sticking its head
in the moon roof, moon roof closing, appears to have cut head off of
the cat, cat falling to the ground, very sick ad!!!!!!!!)

[Thad Floryan]

On 7/18/2009 7:34 AM, Steven Lichter wrote:
> Thad Floryan wrote:
>> [...]

>> <http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/FordBird.mpeg> [1 MB]
>> <http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/FordCat.mpeg> [.9 MB]
>>
>> On-topic: the telephone excuse machine:
>>
>> <http://thadlabs.com/VIDEOS/phone_excuse_machine.flv> [5.7 MB]
>
> You will notice all of your screens at your house have been threaded and
> your car has been marked by my wifes cats.*

Deservedly so. :-)

It's been years since I actually watched some of those videos and I was
thinking of the "trunk monkey car protection system". I added an index
file to that VIDEOS page with a warning about that specific video
("not for the squeamish"). Sorry 'bout that.

Interestingly, cats seem to like my car (they sleep under it) and my
backyard, and I'm the only one in the neighborhood without a mouse,
rat or gopher problem. Even the neighborhood skunk will come over and
sit about 10 feet away when I'm out at night with my telescopes. The
bobcats are about 2 blocks away and the cougar hasn't come closer than
1/2 mile. Two California king snakes, about 5' long, live here, too.

Apologies to all for the off-topic post.