July 22, 2005
It's just not getting any safer out there, despite all the 'nanny legislation' going on:
A woman who was branded with letters from the Consolidated Edison logo when she fell off a skateboard onto a searing hot manhole cover in Manhattan last year filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking unspecified damages from the utility. Elizabeth C. Wallenberg, 27, was burned just above her buttocks and on her left arm when she fell off her skateboard onto a cover over a steam pipe at Second Avenue and 13th Street in the East Village shortly after midnight on Aug. 11, 2004, said her lawyer Ronald Berman.Now, I admit that when I first ran into this article, I had very little pity for Ms. Wallenberg. I figured that she fell on a manhole cover heated by the sun and did not see how Edison bore any responsibility for her injuries. However, the accident occurred at midnight and the metal cover was hot due to steam leaking from a pipe below. Burns are horribly painful and the truth is that she didn't intend to fall on a hot manhole cover. I also beleive that CE did not intentionally allow the manhole cover to become a danger to public health. (It is not in their best interests to have inefficient leaking steam pipes or dangerous hot manhole covers.) In my opinion, they should pay for all her medical bills and compensate her for lost work time. However, my guess is that she is going for the big payout, which is something I have a problem with. She will end up with lots of free money and CE will get some bad PR and the consumers who use CE power will pay higher prices. It looks like Edison is countering future brandings by coating the manhole covers with polyurethane. I suppose that may help reduce some of the heat transfer, however I think I have a better solution, one that will resonate with today's youth. Simply replace the manhole covers with those bearing a raised design that kids would actually enjoy having burned into their flesh. Like this:
