Posted on 10/14/2015 7:50:31 AM PDT by JoeProBono
SAN FRANCISCO, - A $5 million lawsuit filed in San Francisco alleges a man taking a nap in a public park suffered a brain injury when a 16-pound pine cone landed on his head.
The lawsuit, filed Sept. 4 in San Francisco federal court, alleges Washington state resident Sean Mace was napping under a tree in San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Oct. 12 of last year when a 16-pound seed pod, or pine cone, fell from a coniferous Araucaria bidwillii tree and landed on his head.
The Araucaria bidwillii, native to Australia and better known as a bunya pine or false monkey puzzle tree, can grow seed pods measuring up to 16 inches in diameter and weighing up to 40 pounds.
Mace was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where doctors conducted surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain from internal bleeding. The lawsuit says he needed a second surgery five days later.
"This guy has an irreversible brain injury and he's only in his mid-50s," Johnson told the San Francisco Chronicle. "He's had two surgeries already and he is going to need a third."
Court papers state Mace suffered "traumatic brain injury, with severe and likely irreversible cognitive deficits."
The lawsuit, which names the U.S. government, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, says there were no signs posted to warn visitors about the possibility of dangerous falling pine cones and no fences to keep park-goers away from dangerous areas.
The suit says warning signs and orange fences were installed after Mace's injury.
Johnson said he was unable to find a similar incident in researching the case.
"I've not found another case that is factually similar," Johnson told KNTV. "This is relatively novel."
But unless the tree is native to the area, how would that man be expected to know about such a thing? IMHO, no fence is necessary around such a tree. But there should have been a couple of warning signs near the tree.
And those signs should be in English only! I would expect a "reasonable man" who lives in America to know English, or learn it PDQ. (Shameless plug for English as America's only official language.)
Situational awareness, perhaps. Maybe, look up once in a while.
It's not like a 16 pound pine cone can hide.
Not to badmouth the Australians, they are just observers like I am, but imported species from there are a disaster that keeps on giving.
In addition to these natural mine fields, it has given us a two-mile stretch if road (in California) festooned with hundreds of Eucalyptus, and replete with signs that read "Beware of falling trees" (WTF?) and, in urban environments and unprecedented drought periods, other Eucalyptus that suck up all the available water from native trees and grasses, killing everything in the neighborhood.
Unintended consequences are a bitch.
Nope.
Not in this case.
A good argument can be made for "Act of man," albeit totally unconscious and clueless.
How provincially cute!
I have known of one case in Asia where a friend vacationing had a limb fall on her giving her a serious concussion. The only help provided to her was transportation back to the cruise ship.
I disagree.
Lightning and the wind are 100% natural and acts of God.
Some ignorant clueless human idiot actually imported the damned things.
As mentioned in the article, that sign was posted after the tree assault incident.
Good point!
Did anyone ask Mr. Mace if he had any new ideas about Newtonian physics?
What I posted was a 2013 article in Vincent....not where the dude got clobbered.
Reminds me of the Blue Agave! AhhhTequila.
Simple rule of thumb. Every plant, insect, and animal in Australia is bigger, badder, and deadlier than anywhere on Earth.
Joe, yer one of the best around here.
FMCDH(BITS)
I wonder how the poor tree is going to pay the bill.
Governmental entities are generally immune from dangers posed by natural conditions of unimproved property they own. Here, a Court may view this tree as not a natural condition because it is a species from a different continent that poses a hazard, in the form of 16 lb cones, that does not exist in the indigenous forest. If so, and the court denies summary judgement, a jury will decide the case, if there is no settlement.
Imagine the pine nuts from THAT cone!
Agreed in principle, but with an exception for tourist areas where it is likely non-English speakers will often be present.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.