Texting Teen Falls Down Manhole

[Croc]

I just said it because I'm in Australia and I was bored and I thought I would get a response out of you ... Looks like I did ... :rotflmao:

No, I was in on the joke too, but "pretending to go off" doesn't convey well over the internet.

*nerve touched* DING!

Croc, we still love you even if you have ballooned to 469 pounds.

Huh? Haven't you used up your allotment of non-sequitors for the week?

Capital of car culture?

BS

Doesn't deserve any such title.

No, you're right. We didn't invent fast food. We didn't invent the drive-thru. We didn't pioneer America's freeways. We certainly don't obsess about the car living out here...commute times, smog, congestion, no none of that plays a large role. We don't have a huge diversity of local fast-food chains. We never had drive-thru milk venders after milk men went by the wayside and prior to widespread pasteurization and supermarket sales. We don't have a large enthusiast community, we only buy bland utilitarian vehicles. You won't see a yellow Lambo on Rodeo Drive, and the guy who owns Habibi doesn't drive a Bentley. We don't have Mulholland Drive, or Pacific Coast Highway, or any of these other crazy things.

Nah, none of that exists.

It's the land of choking pollution standards and the pissy Prius. So no, it is no longer the capital of car culture.

Huh. Our pollution standards really aren't that bad. No worse than those of many other populous states.

[Intrepidation]

I always thought the Milkman concept was neat. Before my time though.

[Croc]

I always thought the Milkman concept was neat. Before my time though.

I bet your mom thought so, too!

[Intrepidation]

Oh Snap!

[FAPTurbo]

I bet your mom thought so, too!

Ba-zing

[ocnblu]

I had something about DF meeting his dad some day, but it wouldn't come together.

[XP715]

This story reminds me a lot of the transsexual MBTA subway driver in MA who recently rear-ended another train pulling into a station because he/she/it was texting. I think the best news headline I saw regarding that one was "Texting Tranny Totals Trolley."

People need to be a little less fixated on their phones and a little more in tune with their surroundings. A little would go a long way in terms of preventing pointless accidents like this from happening.

[ocnblu]

TRUE

[Oracle of Delphi]

No, I was in on the joke too, but "pretending to go off" doesn't convey well over the internet.

Sure you were !!!

[ShadowDog]

So if she happened to fell in while just talking to her friend, would she not be allowed to talk for a year?

That just might do the world a favor since it's apparent it would be obvious she couldn't do both at the same time.

That's arbitrary and capricious, and no sane judge would issue that judgment. Get real.

I'm guessing you're the guy sitting among an audience of comedy shows with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face? If you hadn't guessed, which was obvious, my comment could hardly be taken seriously.

[Camino LS6]

Took the bait...

Sometimes I am evil.

[Croc]

Sure you were !!!

Well, why else would my response have been so over-the-top? Do come to LA sometime...you'll understand that no one takes things so seriously out here.

I'm guessing you're the guy sitting among an audience of comedy shows with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face? If you hadn't guessed, which was obvious, my comment could hardly be taken seriously.

Well if it's a litany of fart jokes, yes. I like to think my sense of humor is just a bit more sophisticated than that...but I don't really go to comedy shows, anyway. Too expensive.

[Justin Bimmer]

No, I was in on the joke too, but "pretending to go off" doesn't convey well over the internet.

FAIL!

Besides, you are not from California.

[Croc]

Besides, you are not from California.

Correct, but this is where I belong. I'm very fortunate to have figured that out as soon as I did.

[ocnblu]

OMG you actually admit it!

[Croc]

...admit what? That I'm not from California? blu, I hadn't even moved out here until 2.5 years after I joined the site.

But it really doesn't matter...being a midwestern transplant really makes me just that much more Californian.

[z28luvr01]

Question:

Had cones/signs been used, would she have seen them?

[CaddyXLR-V]

I forgot, people on C&G have never tripped, fell, or bumped into anything in their lives before. If nothing was ever mentioned about texting, I doubt many here would have even said anything about it. It's not like she was driving 80 and texting and rear ended someone. She was walking, which many here feel is safe, and wouldn't expect a hole in the ground in front of you. It's not like she was so out of it and walked into traffic on the street. She was on a sidewalk, which she believed to be safe.

[z28luvr01]

Oh I trip, fall, and bump into things all the time. If I stub my toe on a chair, is it the chair's fault for existing, or my fault for not seeing it? She fell because she wasn't paying attention, not because she was texting. NYC streets aren't a place that you can afford to inhibit your ability to be aware of your surroundings. She's fortunate she *only* fell down a sewer. She could have been flattened by a bus.

[CaddyXLR-V]

Oh I trip, fall, and bump into things all the time. If I stub my toe on a chair, is it the chair's fault for existing, or my fault for not seeing it? She fell because she wasn't paying attention, not because she was texting. NYC streets aren't a place that you can afford to inhibit your ability to be aware of your surroundings. She's fortunate she *only* fell down a sewer. She could have been flattened by a bus.

That's my point. Things like that happen, so no one can say she's an idiot for texting and walking. There still should have been signs or cones or something warning of the open hole. I doubt she would have ever walked into the middle of the street because she was texting, then she would be an idiot.

[Croc]

Question:

Had cones/signs been used, would she have seen them?

Maybe...it certainly would have stood out more. Plus, she'd have to walk into the barrier first BEFORE falling in.

Either way, if she fell in with the cones/signs, there'd be no grounds for a lawsuit. This is why procedures need to be followed by municipal employees.

[Robert Hall]

Oh I trip, fall, and bump into things all the time. If I stub my toe on a chair, is it the chair's fault for existing, or my fault for not seeing it? She fell because she wasn't paying attention, not because she was texting. NYC streets aren't a place that you can afford to inhibit your ability to be aware of your surroundings. She's fortunate she *only* fell down a sewer. She could have been flattened by a bus.

Speaking of being flattened by a bus, I saw an inattentive tourist who was trying to read a map step out in front of a moving double decker bus in London a few years ago, a guy behind her grabbed the back of her coat and pulled her back on the sidewalk...

You really have to pay attention to your environment when walking.--Captain Obvious.

Edited July 15, 2009 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Z-06]

Not leaving signs/barriers left a hole for alibi for the teen. But that does not exonerate the teen for lack of paying attention.

If there should be stupidity count then even the workers should be included in the list too.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I've been to NYC in the summer many times, I actually don't know how she couldn't have smelled the manhole before she ever fell into it. Every time I go there in the summer it's always a treat for your senses with all the unusual sights and smells ...

[ocnblu]

...admit what? That I'm not from California? blu, I hadn't even moved out here until 2.5 years after I joined the site.

But it really doesn't matter...being a midwestern transplant really makes me just that much more Californian.

No no no, silly boy, I was amazed that you admit to "belonging" there. It's rubbing off on ya, I'm tellin' ya.

[Camino LS6]

OMG you actually admit it!

:rotflmao:

[Oracle of Delphi]

No no no, silly boy, I was amazed that you admit to "belonging" there. It's rubbing off on ya, I'm tellin' ya.

Ewwwwww, don't get anything rubbing off on him, on me. I have standards ...

[Intrepidation]

Four.

[Intrepidation]

Pages.

[Intrepidation]

Long.

[ocnblu]

Dong

OMG sorry wrong thread

[Drew Dowdell]

We didn't pioneer America's freeways.

I didn't know the Pennsylvania Turnpike ran all the way to California!!

[Camino LS6]

Then there is the small matter of the Lincoln Highway...

Edited July 16, 2009 by Camino LS6

[Drew Dowdell]

Lincoln Highway isn't limited access.....

[Camino LS6]

Lincoln Highway isn't limited access.....

Parts are.

Not toll, but limited (exit/entrance ramps).

[Croc]

No no no, silly boy, I was amazed that you admit to "belonging" there. It's rubbing off on ya, I'm tellin' ya.

No. There was very little culture shock involved. I really went from not relating in the least with most people in the midwest, to actually feeling like intelligent life really does exist.

I didn't know the Pennsylvania Turnpike ran all the way to California!!

Then there is the small matter of the Lincoln Highway...

Both of you misunderstand. Caltrans built the Arroyo Seco Parkway (Pasadena Freeway) in the 1930s and early 1940s as the third freeway in the nation, first west of the Mississippi. Caltrans was in the process of building a whole network of parkways/freeways at this time, not just one or two, and as a result needed uniform design standards. There were no federal guidelines for freeway design, so Caltrans created their own. When the FHWA was created and began looking at design standards for the rest of the country, they essentially lifted the Caltrans standards, with minimal changes. That's why California freeways have some quirks to them compared to the rest of the country--it would be far too expensive for California to make the minor changes to fit with the FHWA standards, so FHWA allowed them to grandfather in most of the design.

Originally, highway signs were white on black. FHWA was going to adopt the same, until tests showed that white on green is more visible in fog conditions. California eventually converted to a porcelain enamel sign (greater longevity compared to sheeting) of a darker green than the rest of the nation in part because of greater contrast. I can assure you that I find the signs out here easier to read at night than the lighter green retroreflective sheeting used elsewhere, which I find gets washed out in glare at night.

California also invented the 4-Level Stack interchange, at the junction of the 110 and 101 just northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Caltrans invented the overhead guide signs as we know them today, with lighting, maintenance catwalks, and a mixture of capital and lowercase lettering.

More info: http://www.kriske.com/highway/signs/signs.html

Edited July 16, 2009 by Croc

[Justin Bimmer]

Also, bots dots (the bumps that mark lanes)

[Croc]

Also, bots dots (the bumps that mark lanes)

Yup, those too. "Botts'" is the proper spelling, though, after Dr. Elbert Dysart Botts.

Caltrans was also one of the first to do reflective safety features...ever notice in old center median curbs how there's a pattern of recessed rectangles? That was to make the curbs more visible at night--give the median curb a bit of a pattern to distinguish the raised surface from the smooth roadway.

[ocnblu]

So, when's it going to break off?

[Croc]

So, when's it going to break off?

Not in our lifetime. Maybe in a few million years? Hawaii will become part of California long before California breaks off.

[ocnblu]

But... but... the other 49 have been dreaming about it for sooo long...

[Oracle of Delphi]

But... but... the other 49 have been dreaming about it for sooo long...

I'm buying beachfront property in Nevada in anticipation and willing it to my descendants ...

[capriceman]

on a other forum this same thread lasted 4 pages in 2 days before it was locked because members were fighting.

The best quote i think

Quote:

"Originally Posted by xoggyux View Post

Yeah right, you missed a HUGE BLACK HOLE in the floor and you are going to see a orange cone?

But then again, blame the workers. After all you can sue if it was their fault.

I wonder, if it would have been a cliff instead of a sewer hole, who would the family sue? GOD?"

maybe she was wearing a skirt and thought she was stepping over a mirror.

Also this one was good

"I'm sorry, I have a low tolerance for stupidity and you have already hit my limit, I'm just going to have to put you on ignore now."

Edited July 16, 2009 by capriceman

[capriceman]

I'm buying beachfront property in Nevada in anticipation and willing it to my descendants ...

You know thats a good idea. I will also start breeding sharks with laser beams attached to there frickin head too. Then release them when that fault gives way and fills up.

[Oracle of Delphi]

You know thats a good idea. I will also start breeding sharks with laser beams attached to there frickin head too. Then release them when that fault gives way and fills up.