CrAzEd

Wow. You have to sort of deranged to vault yourself over a gap, 80 feet in the air. And suing the city? Wtf is that man. Its not the cities fault they go out and do this.

rat

this is a classic example that proves the point I made earlier:

I love how people who choose not to take risks that potentially endanger life or limb like to classify those who do as idiots. While you're at it, you might as well call test pilots, people who test new styles of parachutes, astronauts, skydivers, bungee jumpers and base jumpers "idiots." Every single one of those professions and hobbies comes with an inherrent risk that your life could be ended if something goes wrong. However, what you fail to acknowledge with your judgemental ways is that every single person that gets behind the wheel of an automibile risks their life to a greater extent than any of the above stated activites. Your potential for serious injury and death while behind the wheel of a car is far greater than participating in any other activity people do in their lives. These kids didn't know their limits because they are fucking kids for christ's sake. But guess what, people don't learn their limits without testing them, and as adolescents, we're far more prone to take risks far beyond the envelope of our physical capabilities.

Actually, by law and ethical standards, due to gross negligence on the city and company's fault for failing to provide adequate preventative measures for safety by not erecting even simple chain link fences, along with the fact that it occurred on their property, they ARE responsible for the actions of those kids. As a property owner, you are liable for ALL actions of people on your property, and when you fail to take reasonable measures (ie, floor to ceiling chainlink fences on the upper stories of a parking garage), you are committing a criminal act of negligence, and should be held liable for it. Fences wouldn't just keep people from doing things like this, but protect ALL their patrons, especially those with small children that could slip away from parents and stumble off the edge. Fences are NOT an unreasonable expense or even that costly of one to ensure the safety of your clients and their families. In fact, not having them should turn out to be far more costly for them in the long run. It's a matter of consumer/tort law that companies/property owners have to take reasonable measures to ensure the safety of their patrons and people on their property. why do you think that Wet Floor signs are put up when a place has a spill and/or after they mop the floor--your safety.

__________________

tspikes51

A fence isn't going to solve the problem. Kids will find something else that's dangerous to do. I do dangerous stuff all the time, but nobody tries to put a fence up when I get hurt. It's the kid's fault that he didn't make it.

__________________
"I'm telling you, we need to get rid of a few people or a million."
-Maddox

Blackthorn

I read this story and the last line, among other amusing and disturbing anecdotes, has become an all too typical response to what the normal majority of people would consider ludicrous behavior. This is akin to the parents of morbidly obese children blaming the fast feeders like McDonald’s for their child’s condition. It beguiles me that people who have produced off spring blame fast feeders for their overweight children when those very parents are responsible for FEEDING them crap in the first place. But that’s a borderline thread jack so before I digress too far let’s get back to the parents of the dumb asses that think jumping from one garage to another is a fun-tastic idea.


No, parents of the dumb ass kid who is a garage jumper, you are purely wrong and you need to be told this. The garages here take full responsibility for providing you and your dumb ass spawn a place to park your car. Their responsibility ends there.

If you are dumb ass enough to “garage jump” then you are certainly dumb ass enough to enjoy the consequences without whining about it and blaming someone else for your dumb assed behavior.

<<< Edit >>>

And to other would be garage jumpers out there. Go ahead. Make my day. Just don't whine about it after you, being the "greater risk taker" than I, screw yourself up or worse, perhaps even die, in the process.

__________________
What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want?

Demeter

Adolescents are old enough to distinguish an activity that may cause them harm. I do not think society should be held responsible for people who decide to put their life in danger this way.
Would anyone think me correct if I ran out into traffic because there's a chance I might or might not come out unscathed. Would I be able to sue the drivers for allowing me to jump in front of them?
This issue points out that many people today just don't want to be bothered taking responsibility for themselves.

And rat, yes, I think parachuters & bungee jumpers, etc. are taking unneccesary risks. I don't want to chance living the rest of my life crippled so I could have a quick adreneline rush. And for driving being dangerous, well, yes it is. But it's a neccesary evil. One does not have to jump from rooftop to rooftop to get to work.

Just my 2 cents...

Hampshire

let them jump, if they think its worth the risk, let them go for it.

kurty[B]

You couldn't sue the drivers, but you could sue the city for neglecting to put a crosswalk in the middle of the street.

rat

odds are you'd be found responsible for any damages done as there are laws governing the activity you describe, just as there are laws for property owners regarding actions required to prevent harm due to what is termed an "attractive nuisance." god forbid that the city and the company (the two respective garage owners) actually take steps to insure the relative safety of all their patrons. safeguards should have been in place to prevent accidents prior to this but weren't.

__________________

jbw97361

let them jump, if over the course of successive generations they develop wings, good for them!

__________________
JBW

greytone

I am losing my faith in Darwin. There is no way this kid should have survived to pass his genes on. It is his responsibilty to the the rest of society to keep jumping until he is dead or sterile. More importantly it is the responsibility of the garage owners to remove any fences that might prevent other morons from tempting to fate natural selection.

All risk is NOT the same. Some risk is taken because it is necessary (driving to work). Some risk is taken because not taking the risk more dangerous (choosing to defend yourself with violence). Some risk is taken by informed adults for the experience itself (SCUBA, parachuting, flying). In the last case, intelligent people understand that life can not be risk free, but they take steps to minimize the danger through education and preparation. Jumping from one building to another or elevator surfing or drag racing is undertaken only by those who are too immature to be free from parental oversight. It is their parent's responsibility to know they need ongoing supervision and hire babysitters for them. The rest of society and the garage owners are not morally responsible. I really don't care what the law says. After all it is the result of a bunch of lawyers getting together and planning on how to best screw the productive members of society.

__________________
I was there to see beautiful naked women. So was everybody else. It's a common failing.
Robert A Heinlein in "They Do It With Mirrors"

fastom

Rat we aren't talking about an accident, the idiot (or would you prefer 'moron'?) didn't fall off the building... he jumped. Reasonable precautions to prevent injury to a patron don't help when idiots willfully take their risks.

rat

the point isn't how the oversight was brought to the public attention, the point is that the oversight had been made. it's funny how people think liability on one's own property shifts depending upon the behavior of the injured. as I've stated, were it a small child who'd wandered off the edge unintentionally, everyone would be asking "Why weren't precautions taken to prevent this? These damn irresponsible owners...." Regardless of the actions of the kids involved, the garage owners (city of Orlando and the company that owned the other garage) should have already taken reasonable precautions. Is it that ludicrous to think "Hey, there's an 80 foot drop here, maybe we should keep people from being able to fall off"? I mean for goodness sake, any decent size corporation--let alone the City--has a risk management office, and leaving easy access to a potentially fatal drop is a pretty big risk to overlook.

__________________

Hanabal

I agree that if there was a law, they had to follow it. But dont single them out because of this case.

If you are going to enforce the law here, you have to enforce it everywhere. The idiot was an idiot and if the place was not doing its job, then the parties involved get no compensation. If the garage is to be punished, make it a fine payable to the city council, but dont dare let the family or espeically the lawyer think they can get it.

I thought it was interesting, when i was reading the article. When it said who was suing the place, the name didnt match the family involved. I was like, what does the guy thats doing the suing have to do with the case.

__________________
I am Hanabal, Phear my elephants

aberkok

This made me laugh out loud. Imagine it posed as a philosophical conundrum. Maybe you should start a thread on the Philosophy board!

__________________
!check out my new blog! http://arkanamusic.wordpress.com

Warden Gentiles: "It? Perfectly innocent. But I can see how, if our roles were reversed, I might have you beaten with a pillowcase full of batteries."

Blackthorn

Business owners have no obligation to protect people from themselves. If you are a dumb-ass and you engage in dumb-ass behavior then enjoy the consequences. Any of the fodder about it being the business’s responsibility to prevent people from being a dumb-ass is just not true.

The idea that fences should be put up to prevent this is crazy talk. That’s like saying that if it snows and the sidewalk in front of my house is covered in snow I should provide snow shoes to those who choose to pass by my house. WRONG. Snow and the potential for ice underneath being slippery is just common sense. Jumping from one garage to another is WRONG and socially aberrant behavior and lacks common sense.

Business owners bear no responsibility for socially aberrant behavior lacking in common sense. It doesn’t mean they won’t capitulate to the pressure from all the nay-sayers who will talk about how evil it is of the business owners to put up such an unsafe facility which is nothing more than a load of S H I T crap.

As for this phenomenae to be somehow similar to the risk you take by driving a car: That's just another load. There are laws that govern the way you are permitted to legally drive your car. Defensive, risk avoidance, driving is taught and preached from the very begining. Just in case I'm way out of touch and that's not another load then the next time I need to have my driver's license renewed I'll be sure to NOT check the "garage jumper" box which if checked would be the equivalent of wearing a sign that says "I'm a dumb ass".

Attention Dumb Asses: You are free (at least in the U.S.) to be a dumb ass. Just don’t whine about it or blame someone else when you screw yourself up in the process.

It’s just that simple folks.

__________________
What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want?

joeshoe

So the garage owner, who did nothing to encourage this behavior, is responsible while the parents, who have the responsibilty of raising their kids to not be complete morons, are blame free? The parents should be sued for neglecting their children. Or better yet, no one should be sued, and hope the kid got a bit smarter.