Woman Falls Into Open Sidewalk Grate While Texting.

[Mitchell]

A big headline on the front page of.

www.abc7ny.com.

I just saw a story on the 4 pm news on WABC TV about a woman who was seriously injured when she fell through an open sidewalk cover while texting.

Hopefully the woman will recover.

It is most unfortunate that whatever she was doing on the cellphone, distracted her from her surroundings, and caused her not to exercise caution of where she was walking, and it resulted in this.

 

[rdhd]

And those doors stood a good bit above the sidewalk. Unfortunately, I see lots of people walking and blindly yakking on or looking at their all-important phones. No idea what's going on around them. It's a wonder there aren't more such accidents.

How did we ever survive without these things?

 

[Mitchell]

I know, rdhd.

I've seen many people walking on the street in NYC, with their heads looking at their phones, texting, etc, and they don't pay attention to where they are going.

I've had people almost.. run into me on the street, because of not looking where they are going while texting.

I try to make a point of leaving my phone off while walking in the street, so as not to be distracted by a text or call. When I get to where I'm going, I will check my phone. , If I do check my phone in the street, I will always step to the side and stop, so as to not be distracted where I'm walking, or to be in other people's way who are walking.

Hopefully this terrible incident will cause people to reconsider when they are texting. Walking and texting can be almost as dangerous as driving and texting, as this incident proves.

 

[rdhd]

Unfortunately, idiots will continue to be idiots. The rest of us just gotta watch out for them.

 

[Bugman]

Unfortunately, I see lots of people walking and blindly yakking on or looking at their all-important phones. No idea what's going on around them. It's a wonder there aren't more such accidents.

Yep. And it gets worse when they have ear buds stuffed in their heads. Completely oblivious to their surroundings.

 

[FeatherEndeavor]

As I was leaving work today driving through the parking ramp a woman was walking and looking at her phone. She almost wandered into the path of my car. Luckily I was looking so I veered to the side to miss her. By the time she looked up I would have hit her if I wasn't watching. I don't get why you can't put those things down for a few minutes for the sake of your own safety.

 

[Mitchell]

I've seen people on the subway and in the subway stations, with the earpieces in their ears listening to music, or whatever.

Unfortunately, those individuals are making themselves prime targets for purse snatchers/muggings, accidents, etc, by not being aware of their surroundings.

 

[milagros317]

I learned the hard way not to walk while reading texts on my cellphone. I walked into a mailbox and escaped with nothing worse than a bruised knee.
Now, if I get the chime of an incoming text message while walking, I step over to the side of a building, stop walking, and then read it.

 

[maniactickler]

Good. she learned a valuable lesson today. it was probably a set up for a law suit.

 

[Mitchell]

maniac, not to.. start something.. but.. I have this question/observation about what you said.

Why would someone "set up" a serious injury, for the purpose of a lawsuit?

While I'm not the woman's personal doctor, and I certainly don't know the details/extent of her injuries..

If she is seriously injured, as has been reported. she likely has extensive pain, and a long recovery ahead of her.

Whether she has a lawsuit, is up to the discretion of an attorney if she chooses to seek advice.

However, I highly doubt it was a "Setup for a lawsuit."

 

[Philip_2006]

maniac, not to.. start something.. but.. I have this question/observation about what you said.

Why would someone "set up" a serious injury, for the purpose of a lawsuit?

While I'm not the woman's personal doctor, and I certainly don't know the details/extent of her injuries..

If she is seriously injured, as has been reported. she likely has extensive pain, and a long recovery ahead of her.

Whether she has a lawsuit, is up to the discretion of an attorney if she chooses to seek advice.

However, I highly doubt it was a "Setup for a lawsuit."

I'm just guessing he read a more interpretative story.
Below is my assumption upon that assumption.

Original local story cited the son with a very particular request (after the son cited her status as legally blind).
"The woman’s son said she has trouble seeing blended colors, and wishes workers had put up some type of indicator or cones to alert people to be careful."

Suspicions probably would not have been raised if the the son just cited her nauseous state from diabetes (obviously that would seem more relevant to a viral CCTV inquiry about the phone use).

"She regularly takes on schedule her meals and checks her sugar.
As far as I was told, when she was walking down the street, she felt a little nauseous in a sense, and looked at her phone to see what time it was,” the woman’s son said.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/06/08/woman-falls-through-cellar-door/

Haven't a clue about the prevalence of NJ insurance fraud.
Please read this as a casual glance of a guess.

 

[BlasterMaster]

I'm terribly sorry for the woman's injury and I hope she recovers from it.

Having said that, people need to stop looking down at their cells and start looking up to where they're going/driving.

 

[ReddSunnnyDay]

Serves her right! I couldn't care less if she's okay or not. People need to be more careful

 

[BlasterMaster]

Serves her right! I couldn't care less if she's okay or not. People need to be more careful.

I truly don't mean offense by this but please don't expect any sympathy if you yourself get seriously hurt doing something foolish.

 

[ReddSunnnyDay]

I truly don't mean offense by this but please don't expect any sympathy if you yourself get seriously hurt doing something foolish.

That is incredibly mean spirited

 

[paracarl44]

I've seen people on the subway and in the subway stations, with the earpieces in their ears listening to music, or whatever.

Unfortunately, those individuals are making themselves prime targets for purse snatchers/muggings, accidents, etc, by not being aware of their surroundings.

^I remember seeing a video of a girl having her cell phone snatched from her hand by a person on a bicycle while she was in the crosswalk.^

 

[Mitchell]

I never take my phone out either on the subway, or in the station.

I've seen some people who can get cell phone reception in both the subway, and in the station itself to text, etc. . I can't. However, even if I could, I would still leave the phone in my pocket for safety reasons. When I know I'm going into a subway station/subway to go somewhere, I turn the phone off and put it in my pocket.

 

[Nedstacey2]

Just saw this PSA on TV last night, even though it's apparently been around for close to a year:

​

Personally, I relate more to the guy with the overstuffed wrap starting at 0:09. Tough to find any item in my wardrobe that doesn't have the telltale indelible stains.

 

[theblueone]

Yikes!

Never saw that PSA before.