Hmm... maybe kids these days shouldn't live to be over 30

[bryanthompson]

Look at this: http://www.local6.com/money/4239256/detail.html

Teenagers in Orlando, Fla., are leaping between 80-foot high public parking garages in a new trend called "garage jumping," according to a Local 6 News investigation.
...
Tim Bargfrede told Local 6 News that he was following friends when he attempted to garage jump and did not make it to the other side. Bargfrede fell six stories and was knocked unconscious on impact.

And for the real kicker...

D'Assaro (Lawyer for the Bargfrede family) is filing a lawsuit against the city of Orlando and the private garage owner for making little effort to correct a potential deadly risk.

"There was a very, very short length of fence that was completely ineffective in preventing this from happening," D'Assaro said.

The kid jumps, falls, gets hurt... then sues the owners of the garage becuase... it wasn't safe?!?! This is right up there with spilling hot coffee on yourself, but even more ridiculous.

[cstreit]

Filtering out the old gene pool...

[Tim Hancock]

I recently heard about a group of people trying to raise money to build a suicide prevention fence on the Golden Gate bridge. They claim that if it was more difficult, less people would do it.

I say if someone reallly wants to kill themselves, a two million dollar fence will not stop them. Why can't people be held responsible for their actions instead of blaming it on someone else? I will never understand.

[RickM]

So this means any building over a certain height will need a fence around it. Including houses.

[Moneyguy1]

As long as there are opportunistic attorneys......(not a rant against ALL attorneys, just those who adverise on late night TV advising SUE!! SUE!! SUE!! CALL 1-800-the-Vulture

When did we, as a society, stop taking responsibility for our own actions?

[Christien]

I say if someone reallly wants to kill themselves, a two million dollar fence will not stop them.

Believe it or not, they built one in Toronto, a huge fence on both sides of a really high bridge which had a silly high number of jumpers. The suicide rate in Toronto dropped noticeably. Seems that if the opportunity isn't there, some people actually don't do it.

[on-ramp]

umm, the woman who sued McDonald's because she was burned with their hot coffee won her case.

Now every cup says : "Be Careful, coffee hot", or somethign to that effect.

[pooh bear]

If teenagers are that stupid and really want to take the risk, let them. One less idiot to worry about.

[SteveStromberg]

Push the Lawyer off the roof to see if he bounces.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally posted by Christien
Believe it or not, they built one in Toronto, a huge fence on both sides of a really high bridge which had a silly high number of jumpers. The suicide rate in Toronto dropped noticeably. Seems that if the opportunity isn't there, some people actually don't do it.

Are you sure they don't just go somewhere else?

[Christien]

If my memory is correct, the overall suicide rate for the city dropped after the installation of the fences, which would indicate that at least some of them didn't go elsewhere (unless they left the city). I'm not 100% sure of this, as I'm just recalling newspaper articles from when it was installed, but that's what I remember.

Chris

[ronin]

Originally posted by pooh bear
If teenagers are that stupid and really want to take the risk, let them. One less idiot to worry about.

dass my girl. (methinks I've raised an idealist :O )

[RickM]

Originally posted by Christien
Believe it or not, they built one in Toronto, a huge fence on both sides of a really high bridge which had a silly high number of jumpers. The suicide rate in Toronto dropped noticeably. Seems that if the opportunity isn't there, some people actually don't do it.

IMO, if someone goes to a bridge to jump then they are dying for attention....literally.

[cmccuist]

Originally posted by on-ramp
umm, the woman who sued McDonald's because she was burned with their hot coffee won her case.

Now every cup says : "Be Careful, coffee hot", or somethign to that effect.

That lady did win her case and the jury awarded her $2.9 million (after punitive damages).

There was the argument that in the decade prior to her burns, there were 700 cases of Mcdonald's coffee burning people. But what isn't reported is that Mcdonald's served 1 billion cups of coffee in that same period.

The judge later reduced the punitive damages to $480,000.

Hot coffee

That coffee is pretty hot, but apparently people like it hot.

[bryanthompson]

A girl in my highschool class 'tried' to kill herself several times, usually with medication. She never succeeded, but the psychologist I talked to about it said that most girls that try to commit suicide don't do it because they want to die, they do it because they want attention, and when a guy tries to commit suicide, it's because he wants to die. It explains why girls tend to try to slit their wrists or try overdosing, and when guys commit suicide, they jump off of buildings, bridges, or go for a gunshot.

I think if someone *really* wants to get the job done, a fence isn't going to stop them.

[Rot 911]

I want to know how that kid fell 6 stories and was only knocked unconscious!

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by Christien
If my memory is correct, the overall suicide rate for the city dropped after the installation of the fences, which would indicate that at least some of them didn't go elsewhere (unless they left the city). I'm not 100% sure of this, as I'm just recalling newspaper articles from when it was installed, but that's what I remember.

Chris

Maybe some of them booked flights to San Francisco?

[arcsine]

Originally posted by bryanthompson
girls that try to commit suicide do it because they want attention and a guy wants to die

I remember this as:

90% of attempted suicides are by women but 90% of successful attempts are by men.

But to the topic of money for nothing, I guess it beats working. Endanger yourself by doing something stupic, hurt yourself in the process and then sue someone because they did not stop you. If doing something physical is not your bag, try the old favorite of "waiter, there is a fly in my soup" and plunk a finger in some chili.

[86 911]

D'Assaro (Lawyer for the Bargfrede family) is filing a lawsuit against the city of Orlando and the private garage owner for making little effort to correct a potential deadly risk.

D'Assaro... LOL
He must really be D'Ass for even attempting to file a lawsuit like this.