Boy dies while texting, blames car park

[FPB111]

from the article:
"According to local reports, Australian building regs require one metre-high safety barriers in multi-level buildings."

Lisa_spyder
But if the barriers in this carpark were at current building code height I doubt he would have gone over the edge.

The TV reporter measured 89 cm at the point the teenager went over, so 11 cm or 4" would have made the difference here?

[Rikao4]

maybe..
he now only drops the phone..
which shatters the windshield of a car below..
startling the driver..
who then plows into the kid's Grand-ma..

Rika

[masraum]

Originally Posted by FPB111

from the article:
"According to local reports, Australian building regs require one metre-high safety barriers in multi-level buildings."



The TV reporter measured 89 cm at the point the teenager went over, so 11 cm or 4" would have made the difference here?

That's what I'm wondering, 35" instead of 39" (for us silly non-metric Americans). I guess it could, but it doesn't seem like that big a difference to me.

Its truly a tragedy that could have easily been avoided. The kid paid the ultimate price for poor judgement. "He had been drinking, but he was not drunk.". Bah, if he had been drinking, he was probably impaired to some extent. Thats what alcohol does.

Based on the two bits of info above, I'm thinking that the bulk of the responsibility is with the boy and his poor judgement. The building probably needs to bring the rail up to code, but I'd be surprised if that would have helped in this situation.

[J1NX3D]

this result just came out here this week.
No jail for fatal crash texting | Stuff.co.nz

[Rikao4]

I'm sure the guy who owns the garage has remorse as well..

Rika

[lisa_spyder]

Just reported:

Melbourne City Council will conduct a formal safety audit of the carpark within 48 hours. A notice was served on the owners of the carpark last night. If the surveyors find that the barriers are unsafe; an order to rectify will be served on the owners of the carpark immediately.

Some of the railing is as low as 82cm; the area where the boy fell has railing between 86 - 89cm high.

Apparently some 'nasty' messages have been posted on facebook stating that the boy was drunk and the grandmother must be after money... don't you just love social networking sites. It's on the net so it must be true

Grandmother is on record - the family do not want compensation; they just want this carpark and other multi-storey carparks to be audited and safety issues addressed.

[Rikao4]

Lisa...what your view of the kid who killed while texting..
he is full of remorse after all..

Rika

[scottmandue]

Seriously a tragedy, very sad.

But the boy was somewhat at fault. He certainly knew he was on the roof of a seven story parking structure and common sense should have told him to pay attention to his surroundings.

A lady falls into a fountain at a mall... a girl falls into an open manhole... how long before some kid steps off a curb in front of a bus?

I'm sure you all heard of the metro train crash that occurred here because the operator was texting and missed the warning lights?

[lisa_spyder]

Rika,

The case in NZ?

The boy was texting whilst driving. He was in charge of a motor vehicle; a moving deadly missile. No doubt he is deeply remorseful; but I am not sure that the punishment really fits the 'crime'. He killed someone else because of his actions.

Here in Victoria we now have complex laws in place regarding use of mobiles phones in vehicles. You can't text, you can't use your phone, you can't even pick it up in the car. You can make or receive calls if you are using a fixed handsfree device and don't touch the phone. There is talk of banning mobile phone use altogether in cars as sectors of the community haven't got the message about just how dangerous it is. That won't get off the ground, but I can understand the call for a ban.

I do a lot of driving... sometimes 1000k's in a week. I can pick the drivers on the highway who have their eyes off the road and are using their phones. I try to stay well away from them as they are all over the place at 110kph. Sometimes though I can see they are texting bloody war and peace whilst careening down the hwy at speed. They are putting me and everyone else around them at risk.

[Red88Carrera]

Do you really think the owner will be the one to pay for the upgrades? No, that cost will be passed on to the consumer. I don't like paying for other people's mistakes.

Most modern cell phones have GPS. If we were serious enough about this issue, we would demand that texting/calling be disabled while in motion. I am for this all the way. You can limit it by distance moved or speed.

[scottmandue]

Or we could use our brains and not text when moving....

I'm guilty... almost took a dive texting and walking down the stairs at my works parking structure.

I don't text while walking anymore.

We need to get a handle on the communication addiction... we don't need to be in contact every waking moment... this wasn't a problem twenty years ago.

[lisa_spyder]

Originally Posted by Red88Carrera

Do you really think the owner will be the one to pay for the upgrades? No, that cost will be passed on to the consumer. I don't like paying for other people's mistakes.

Of course not! It's a user pays to play world and the carpark will pass the cost on. Parking costs in Melbourne are in the 'bend over and take it' league already...

Hell I pay for other people's mistakes everyday. I do it when I pay my Council rates (these guys are only good at one thing - ****ing eveything up); when I pay my power bill (paying for the bushfire plan to put power lines underground); when I pay my taxes (so that govt can throw my money away on minority schemes and bureaucracy)...I could go on...get used to it - we all pay one way or another.

OK I agree this boy could have paid more attention to his surroundings. I don't dispute that. But I disagree with what I perceive is a level of contempt for this kid in some responses. It was a tragic accident.

Now, a woman was killed this morning walking across a train line. The gates were closed and she couldn't wait...and the inevitable happened right in front of her husband who had walked under the closed gates to the other side. No sympathy for her from me. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

[Red88Carrera]

That was a poor decision wasn't it?
Maybe we should build a bridge that goes over the train tracks instead of using those inadequate gates!

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

I so hoped that was a joke. I was sadly mistaken. I want to kick small children when I see such things.

Mike

You got it all wrong...

Its call a gene pool cleaner, it does the work.

[lisa_spyder]

You could say that...but don't try to entrap me - it won't work . The gates were DOWN. She made a conscious decision to defy the gates...don't think the boy in the carpark made a conscious decision to fall over a barrier that was too low.

[Red88Carrera]

He did make a conscious decision to disregard the consequences, just as she did.

[audiman08]

Originally Posted by Red88Carrera

He did make a conscious decision to disregard the consequences, just as she did.

So did you not make mistakes as a teenager? I think everyone can agree he made a terrible mistake...that's no reason to laugh about it, or take pot shots at a dead kid. Sometimes we should just put politics aside, and be gentlemen about these things.

[lisa_spyder]

Don,

At this point I am inclined to request a sainthood for you . I can only assume you are so measured and calculating in your life that you must never make a poor decision.

We all make 1000s of decisions everyday. If you take it to the nth degree every one of those decisions has a consequence.

Do you drink alcohol, smoke, ever run across a road without really looking, driven a little over the speed limit (or a lot), j-walked, grabbed for something hot off the stove without an oven glove ...no I guess you haven't.

I'll admit I am being a little ridiculous in my para above...but really; is the world so black and white for you?

The poor kid was texting his mates who were somewhere else in the carpark to arrange where to meet up after he had done the very fine thing of escorting some girls to their car in said carpark. He was 19...

[Red88Carrera]

I'm neither laughing about it, nor taking pot shots at a dead kid. I've made many mistakes and sometimes wonder how I made it this far. All I'm saying is no matter how much you want to coddle and make things safer, you can't fix a total disregard for one's own safety.

[Red88Carrera]

Lisa,
I have done most of those things you have listed, all the while knowing the consequences. I made those decisions, and must accept the consequences. What every happened to personal responsibility?