Teen falls down manhole while texting

[MagicForMe]

Texting Teen Falls Down Manhole
By Victoria Cavaliere

We all know that walking and texting is a tough combination -- but a Staten Island teen learned the hard way when she fell into an uncovered sewer manhole while trying to send a message.

Now, the family of Alexa Longueira, 15, intends to sue.

The girl suffered a fright and some scrapes on her arms back after she dropped into the hole on Victory Boulevard.

"It was four or five feet, it was very painful. I kind of crawled out and the DEP guys came running and helped me," Longueria told the Staten Island Advance.. "They were just, like, 'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

For its part, the Department of Environmental Protection said its workers had turned away briefly to grab some cones when the incident occurred.

"We regret that this happened and wish the young woman a speedy recovery," DEP spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla said in a statement. She added that crews were flushing a high-pressure sewer line at the time.

The girl was checked out at Staten Island University Hospital and released.

Sewer line workers are supposed to cut off pedestrian access to work sites or at least mark them with warning signs.

The family said they will file a lawsuit -- for what, though, is not immediately clear. Her mother, Kim Longueira, said it doesn't matter that her daughter was walking and texting, and also, the 'gross' factor that can't be ignored.

"Oh my God, it was putrid," she said. "One of her sneakers is still down there"

*
LINK: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31853449/?GT1=43001

They're filing a lawsuit!

 

[momof1princess]

oh please! if she'd been watching where she was walking, she wouldn't have fallen in! i hope the suit is thrown out.

 

[TDC Nala]

Mom's wrong - it does indeed matter that she was walking and texting. It may not get her suit dismissed, but it'll probably lessen any award she receives.

 

[novajeanjellybean]

 

[Darsa]

I can just hear the mom now... "You fell down a manhole?? Oh my gosh, think about all the MONEY WE CAN GET IN A LAWSUIT!!" And then they dance.

Ugh. I get calls from people like this at work all the time, looking for a lawyer to take their case. Makes me every time.

 

[DisneyBlonde]

what a dope

 

[DebIreland]

I'm sorry I'm a meanie but I can't help

When I was 10 my Dad took me to the playground. At the time there was a very tall slide there. I got to the top and wasn't concentrating and fell right off. I remember my Dad's reaction. He rolled his eyes and said "for chrissake would ya get up. And in future look at what you're doing". I was sulking at the time (cause my knee was sore!) but it worked. I focussed from then on (well, by and large, lol!). The thing is, most of us feel foolish when we fall down but others, instead of feeling foolish, feel "what am I now entitled to?". Sad.

BTW, that slide is long gone. Too many parents sued cause their precious darlings fell off it.

As for the parents in that article - way to go - reward her for her stupidity. I have a 15 year old son. If he did that (whilst I'd be sympathetic) I'd take his phone away for a month until he proved he was responsible enough to look after himself whilst texting.

 

[Shelton123]

That chick is utterly stupid! So is her family or they're just delusional gold diggers. What is she doing walking right in the middle of the street anyways? Ever heard of a sidewalk?

 

[mjkacmom]

Although I hate to see teens texting while walking (or drving ), the company is in the wrong. They are supposed to block off open manholes, and they didn't. What if it was a toddler running ahead of his mother? An elderly woman?

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

except that if you were looking where you were going, you would have seen them opening the cover, and getting the cones.

what do you bet that it wouldn't have mattered if the cones were up, zombie text teen would have just walked around them and kept texting.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Although I hate to see teens texting while walking (or drving ), the company is in the wrong. They are supposed to block off open manholes, and they didn't. What if it was a toddler running ahead of his mother? An elderly woman?

So you are saying the first thing all toddlers learn is to obey caution signage and not to run around yellow safety railings?

and being old does not excuse you from personal responsibility. Texting while walking is equivalent to being drunk in public.

she is very lucky. Manholes around here can be 20 -30 feet deep!

Mikeeee

 

[JR6ooo4]

and people are just stupid! We put 18" orange cones around our survey instruments, AND PEOPLE WALK INSIDE THE CONE AREA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mikeeee

 

[JESW]

..sorry...but when dh was telling me this morning I actually laughed out loud! Glad to hear that the girl wasn't seriously injured, but geez, suing?? Whatever happened to taking responsibility for your actions/lack of common sense??

Jill

 

[Liberty Belle]

I'm sorry I'm a meanie but I can't help

When I was 10 my Dad took me to the playground. At the time there was a very tall slide there. I got to the top and wasn't concentrating and fell right off. I remember my Dad's reaction. He rolled his eyes and said "for chrissake would ya get up. And in future look at what you're doing". I was sulking at the time (cause my knee was sore!) but it worked. I focussed from then on (well, by and large, lol!). The thing is, most of us feel foolish when we fall down but others, instead of feeling foolish, feel "what am I now entitled to?". Sad.

BTW, that slide is long gone. Too many parents sued cause their precious darlings fell off it.

As for the parents in that article - way to go - reward her for her stupidity. I have a 15 year old son. If he did that (whilst I'd be sympathetic) I'd take his phone away for a month until he proved he was responsible enough to look after himself whilst texting.

We had one of those super tall slides in the town I grew up in. I was always afraid to go down it. One little boy fell off the top and broke both of his arms. I doubt the parents sued, though, this was back in the seventies when people didn't sue so much.

I can't help but laugh at the original story with the teen. I know that's terrible of me.

 

[OctMtnWoods]

Award her new sneakers, maybe a new cell phone, and send her on her way. Bet she continues to text & walk too.

 

[Imzadi]

This would have been a case of Natural Selection if this teen were in a jungle and fell into a deep hole. If she was that stupid in the wild, I think her tribe would have looked down at her, kept walking by the hole and continued on their journey without her.

 

[cteddiesgirl]

What idiots!

I don't care if there were no cones around the hole yet. While it was dumb for the workers to open it without having the cones, the girl was even more dumb by walking and texting at the same time. And the parents of the girl are being just as dumb by suing.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Almost a darwin award winner!

 

[Tasha+Scott]

I hope their lawsuit is laughed right out of court.

 

[Dismom+two]

People can be so sue happy it's ridiculous!

My mom had an accident on an escalator at the mall...my neighbor asked if she was going to sue! I said...."ahhh NO!! the mall did nothing wrong...she stepped onto it half on and half off a step." It was my mother's fault...NOT the malls!