http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/...s-death11.html

Is it just me, but I "smell" a big lawsuit coming?

I hate to say I thought that might happen but, way back in the day of 1976 I was there. I thought that some kid might try to slide the rail. I hate to think it happened and no adult stopped it.

Taborn

*sigh* now lets put full enclosurers around all stairs because some girl was an idiot. Sorry that was heartless.

Kids do things all the time that adults cannot stop. I'm sure there are several adults right now that think they SHOULD have been able to change this result.

I think you're absolutely right.

Taborn

Is it just me, but I "smell" a big lawsuit coming?

Man that’s too bad about the girl, but a lawsuit. Someone goes to Mc D’s and orders a coffee, then spills on them self’s and makes a lawsuit.

Kid watches a movie, sees a stunt, then after goes out try the same thing. Gets hurt. Another Lawsuit.

The same thing for video games & music.

People just don’t f…n think anymore. My thoughts if you do something out of stupidity it’s your problem if you get hurt.

I’m not uncaring, it’s just I don’t like to blame someone else for the things I do.

I couldn't agree more, what happemed to taking responsibility for our own actions?

Greed...it ruins us all!

whatever happened to accidents? I guess they don't exist anymore.... everything can be blamed on someone.

It's unfortunate this girl was killed. But some how along the way she never learned that sliding on a rail 30 feet up is too dangerous.

The girl is a moron and should be held accountable for her own actions. Of course her parents will file a lawsuit and probably get a judgment...even tho it isnt deserved. I wish I could be on that jury...... Judgment.....$0.

I agree with you all. When I came to US, was around the time that woman got burned at McD. I thought it was a prank or a joke of some sort.... after she won it, I lost all hope.

I agree with everybody else. People need to take responsibility for their own actions, it's not always somebody elses fault.

I do feel sorry for her family, it's a shame that her parents now have to live with this.

I thought that judgemnt was reveresed on appeal. but the biggest thing that came out of that was the big warning sign now i see on the drivethrough window, "warning coffee might be served HOT" well duh, i don't think hot coffee is a new invention.


what the saddest part obout opur legal system is that most judgements are made by a jury. that means that people like you and me are the ones giving those ridiculous judgements, i don't get it?

Not to go off topic completely, here is the info on the McD coffee burn pugsly. And yeah, you were right. It changed in the appeal. Changed from 2.7 million dollars to $ 480,000....

http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm

Don't be sorry. I'll echo the sentiment of the others who are getting sick and tired of paying for and/or inconvenienced by other peoples' stupidity.

And to add to other crazy lawsuits.....what about the guy who got drunk and on the way home electrocuted himself by peeing on the 3rd rail of a CTA 'L' track????? A jury actually awarded his family $1 million+.

If you ask me, I'd like to see more countersuits filed against these bogus lawsuits. If you sue me for $1 million because your kid breaks into my house and trips on the stairs carrying out my TV, I sue you for $100 million for failure to supervise your kids. (Somebody in Rockford actually tried something like this, I hope he succeeded).

*edit* I read the article, and where was the adult supervision on this field trip????

amen to that...stupid is as stupid does and there will be some new law or safety feature.

Darwin's prolly flipping in his grave.

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. Why don't people use those IQ's they claim they have (because all humans are supposed to be smarter than animals or so they claim) and stop being so stupid?!

Not to go off on another rant here, but I think that using your mind is not as cool as it used to be. We look at people on Jeopardy as sometimes being nerdy or dweebish. It's more cool or acceptable to get involved with activities like sports or talking on the cell. When I sit in the lunchroom at work and read a book it's like a lot of people are astonished that I'm reading. Granted I know a good portion of our country do continue their own education by reading, traveling or what not...but it seems like it's all TV and social activities.

I saw this movie called Russian Ark. Interesting that the whole movie is done in one take. There's one camera shot through the entire thing...never cuts to a different one, just moves around the people. Anyway, the movie wasn't the most exciting...just two guys walking around and discussing everything from art to politics. It's sort of a history review. There's really no action in the thing. Now at some points they would walk into a room and you'd see Catherine II. When I recognized the person it would be interesting to hear what they were saying about the room they were in (most of the time the characters didn't see these two guys). So it was boring but somewhat interesting because a couple times I said..."hey I remember reading about this..." It was like a short travel through time. But anyway my point is that the people who had no clue as to who the characters were representing simply thought it was a stupid movie. They were lacking the education to understand it, which made it stupid.

So this is how we end up where we are today. We're over run by the internet and TV. I hear people say that surfing the web is better than reading this book or that one. But I disagree. Reading a book doesn't just teach you something (and I'm not talking about self help or diet books). It shows and builds your discipline to keeping your mind open and absorbing new things. When I used to work at a health food store we would get mad rushes on whatever herb or vitamin was featured on the news. This month it's Melatonin and the next is St. Johns Wort or DHEA. We rely so heavily on the news and trust in it so blindly that it causes us to make rash decisions and to not look into the facts behind the topic (much of the time).

So we hear that a lady spills coffee on herself and of course it's her fault. We're shocked at how she could win a lawsuit until we hear that the temperature is beyond the necessary level. That McD's knows their coffee has caused tons of burns, that they don't plan on doing anything about it. You just hear the "her fault, she pays" but that's just ignorance. People will make mistakes all the time, and lots of stuff will be spilled. That's not avoidable. But should you suffer 3rd degree burns for making that mistake? I'm not so sure about that. NOW, having said that...if you just hop on a rail and try to slide down it...ok then you are accepting a certain level of risk associated with it. That's all I can say about that. I'll do stupid stuff and if I make it through ok, then cool! But the difference is me screwing up and doing something unsafe as opposed to making a mistake and paying for it with more time, pain, or whatever than really should be.

Is it possible to get 3rd degree burns from hot coffee? I thought scalds were 2nd degree burns.

No, if I recall correctly it takes under 30 seconds to get a 3rd degree burn at their temps. Read a little about it, but forgot some of the details.

I for one am gonna go against the grain and say the internet is a fantastic resource for learning, because frankly I'd just be watching TV instead during my free time. I've learned so much by what I've seen and read on the internet. As much as I love to read books, I find myself falling asleep given the opportunity to lay down on a couch.

in reverance to the above link (which is actually a law firm) they list cases won by them.

Isn't is messed up that a women "injured" by an IUD device(birth control) gets $30,000,000 but a family that has 2 sons killed after getting swept away in an unprotected storm sewer only was awarded $650,000. or a family of a boy that was shot by another boy in accident gets 2.5 million Where's the fairness in that? why does an injury deserve more than a death or even 2 deaths?

link to above refrences awarded

states there coffee was 185 degrees which is slightly less than boiling. 3rd degree burns are charring of the skin while 2nd are blistering. 2nd degree are actually more painfull than 3rd degree because 3rd degree kills any nerves but it's the area that's surrounds the 3rd degree burn(which are 2nd degree) that are the painfull part.

It can be, but are the sites reputable? Remember that on the web it only takes a matter of minutes for anyone to write about anything...are you sure the information is valid?

Good point....I'm always one to go against the grain. I love to read during my lunch hour myself. People are quite amazed that I do this voluntarily as I'm not in school and haven't been for quite some time. By reading btw, I mean an actual book...albeit fiction. I watch tv for 5 shows, 4 of which are done for the seaon.

To shed a little light on this subject....the person "injured" is alive and can incur future medical expenses and suffering blah blah blah, but the person deceased can not incur any future pain or medical bills, and what the survivors are awarded is for loss of life and companionship blah blah blah. It's all a joke anyway.

It's funny how quickly I was thrown off juries for cases with personal injury when I had jury duty 6 months ago.

I never said it's not messed up... I think it's total crap.... People can't be themselves, cause they have to always worry that their actions can be liable for a lawsuit... ridicockulous...

It's not gonna happen again. Daley is gonna have the road construction crew work midnights carving huge X's into the front steps of the museum. No one's allowed in.