Well if everybody jumped off a bridge I suppose you'd do that too?

[SirBruce]

Teens Leaping For Thrills In 'Garage Jumping' Trend

POSTED: 2:52 pm EST February 28, 2005
UPDATED: 6:29 pm EST March 1, 2005

ORLANDO, Fla. -- 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.

"I just didn't make it," Bargfrede said.

Bargfrede survived the 80-foot fall but was injured.

"The first time I came to the garage after my son's accident, I looked over and I just about broke out in tears," the boy's father Tim Bargfrede said. "I can't believe he actually survived. He looked like he was near death."

"He (Bargfrede) is not he first person, he is not the second person, there have been four or five other individuals before him that did this," family's attorney Vincent D'Assaro said.

The city of Orlando owns one of the downtown parking lots next to a private parking garage owned by Orlando Tower LP, according to Local 6 News.

Orlando Parking Garage Director Samuel Vennero admitted he was aware of at least one other incident where a garage jumper didn't make it to the other side.

"I don't think we recognized it before as a danger," Vennero said.

There are no safety fences in place on the parking garage.

D'Assaro 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.

Orlando Tower LP, the private parking lot owner, refused to comment about their responsibility, according to the report.

Since Bargfrede fell, the City of Orlando erected a partial fence but there's still room for someone to take a dangerous dive.

The family says that's not good enough and that both garages need to take responsibility before a garage jumper loses his life.

Bruce

[Flashman]

Teens Leaping For Thrills In 'Garage Jumping' Trend



D'Assaro 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.

Jesus. As a lawyer, I apologize. What a stupid lawsuit.

I guess I could repeatedly slam my head into the wall of my apartment and them sue the building for not covering the wall with cushions...

[Strazos]

Wow.

Does this case even have a chance? I mean, really, who the fuck would do this...and what jury would say it's the owners' fault for this kid getting hurt?

"It's not my fault I jumped and fell 6 stories, it's Their fault because they didn't have big enough obstacles to keep me from doing it, and signs. I wouldn't have jumped if a sign had told me not to."

My money is on an aquittal to the sound of 9-2 (they use 11 jurors, right?).

[Margalis]

That's awful! It's obviously a deadly risk. Some poor person is just minding their own business, then BOOM, they're just a splat on the pavement! They need to hire 24/7 guards.

Or ED209. Might as well kill the dumbasses with some flair.

[Abagadro]

There is a theory called "attractive nuisance" where (if my memory is correct) if you know that you have created an inherently dangerous situtation on your property (especially if there have been prior instances) and don't make "reasonable attempts to make it safe" than you can be liable, even if the people are tresspassing. Usually only applies to minors getting hurt.

Anyone closer to torts/property class can probably correct the above as it is almost never found anywhere outside of law school. (because of its obvious counterintuitiveness and somewhat high standard)

[Strazos]

That's an interesting theory...anyone have examples handy? I can't think of anything that could qualify....

[Samwise]

An example might be something along the lines of a swimming pool with no gate or cover to stop a small child from wandering in and drowning himself.  I'm pretty sure I've heard of successful lawsuits brought against that sort of thing.

[stray]

An example might be something along the lines of a swimming pool with no gate or cover to stop a small child from wandering in and drowning himself.  I'm pretty sure I've heard of successful lawsuits brought against that sort of thing.

But to apply it to a case like this, they'd have to prove that leaping off an 80 foot parking garage was an "accident". A slip.

Especially hard to prove considering that the kid's friends were falling off "accidentally" as well (albeit, successfully).

[Margalis]

At Cornell University every year at least one drunk person from either Cornell or Ithaca Colege falls into a gorge and dies. A lot of them fall at around the same location and that location has a fence that is literally sliding off the edge of the gorge. As the dirt around the edge has eroded the fence has gone from being at a 90 degree angle to about 30 degrees.

I always wondered why nobody bothered to fix that, and why nobody sued over it.

Moral of the story: Don't get really drunk then wander around a gorge.

[Strazos]

Just wondering, but do you live or work in the vicinity of those universities, or did you attend one of them?

Next time I talk to my uncle (Master's and PhD gradfrom Cornell), I'll have to ask him about this supposed gorge.

EDIT: Specific school would help, eh?

[HaemishM]

Fucking hell, I can jump off a garage and fall almost to my death, then sue the owner for not protecting me from my own raging stupidity? I'll get right on that!

I can see the swimming pool example being an enticement. But normal, non-stupid people swim for entertainment. Normal, non-stupid people do not regularly leap from building to building from 80-feet up unless at least one of the buildings is on fucking fire.

I think we found the breeding source for Vault posters.

[Llava]

The attractive nuisance theory is right, but I think you'd have a hard time arguing that in this case.  It would imply that everyone with a garage without at least 4 or 5 feet of fence on top is guilty of having an attractive nuisance.

Stupid attractive nuisance law is what stopped me from putting a bunch of deadly traps around the house with a big sign out front that says "ROB ME, I DARE YOU".

[WayAbvPar]

Normal, non-stupid people do not regularly leap from building to building from 80-feet up unless at least one of the buildings is on fucking fire.

From the sounds of these idiots, they would probably jump from the non-burning to the burning just for the added rush. I can only hope that the one who fell landed on his testicles and is thus rendered unable to pass along his dubious genes.

Stupid attractive nuisance law is what stopped me from putting a bunch of deadly traps around the house with a big sign out front that says "ROB ME, I DARE YOU".

I think that was the original premise of Tomb of Horrors!

[Sobelius]

The Darwin Awards were designed for people like this.

Most appropriate thing I could think of to say to these kids: "You! Out of the gene pool!"

Fortunately, this behavior is self-eliminating and we can only hope resulting deaths will prevent these folks from ever breeding.

Maybe to make the great cosmic balance work, for every kid genius there have to be 5 or ten kids like this?

[Nazrat]

The attractive nuisance theory is an odd duck that mainly exists in law school and old cases. 

Isn't there a new urban running "sport" in which jumping on and off of buildings is an essential action?  I saw some TV spot about it after the commercial featured these idiots running and jumping park benches and stairwells.

Sounds like someone has seen the Matrix too many times or didn't pay much attention at school when they discussed Mr. Newton and his fruit.