Apparently, a 15-year-old girl fell down an open manhole on Staten Island recently, so her parents are suing the city for damages. The catch is: the girl was texting at the time and wasn’t paying attention when she fell. Apparently, “sewer line workers are supposed to cut off pedestrian access to work sites or at least mark them with warning signs,” and that’s the basis of the lawsuit…but still…
Personally, I do my best not to walk and text if I can avoid it, and I certainly don’t text while driving (but I will occasionally while I’m at a stop light…if Brooke’s in the car, I just have her do it for me…). Talking on your phone is bad enough while you’re driving – just hit the interstates here in St. Louis and you’ll see plenty of crazies talking on their phones, not using turn signals, and just doing a terrible job staying in their lanes. Texting is pretty ridiculous, though, and even worse when you blame someone else because you’re an idiot.
Sounds like this girl needed the Email ‘n Walk app: http://lifehacker.com/5256519/email-n-walk-lets-you-multitask-without-getting-hit-by-a-car
Yea, that’s pretty bad. Texting and driving involves too many things to be safe and drive. Unless you have your keypad memorized, wait until you’re stopped. Otherwise, you may run into me and I’ll be pissed….
I hope the judge uses some common sense here and they only hold the city liable for incurred medical costs and fines related to the unmarked manhole opening. But, we all know that’s not how the justice system works and somehow they’ll “win” millions of dollars for being an idiot…
Of course, I just typed this all from my phone while driving……..
kidding 😛