Man hit by 16-pound pine cone in S.F. park files $5 million suit

[Liberal_in_LA]

pics of pinecones from the same type tree before people say the lawsuit is frivolous





http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Man-hit-by-16-pound-pine-cone-in-S-F-park-files-6567225.php


A tourist visiting the Bay Area for Fleet Week last year was doing nothing more than reading and napping under a tree in a federal waterfront park in San Francisco when a 16-pound pine cone fell on him and crushed his skull, his lawyer said Monday.

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“This guy has an irreversible brain injury and he’s only in his mid-50s,” said Scott Johnson, a San Francisco attorney representing Mace in the lawsuit. “He’s had two surgeries already and he is going to need a third.”

Mace went to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park at the Fort Mason Center on Oct. 12, 2014, to find a spot to watch the Blue Angels air show. He found himself what he thought was a peaceful place to read and rest in the northeast corner of the park under a stand of coniferous Araucaria bidwillii trees, more commonly known as bunya pines or false monkey puzzle trees, according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 4 in San Francisco federal court.

Mace was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain from internal bleeding. Five days later, another surgery was required to further relieve pressure building inside his skull, the lawsuit reads.

He suffered “traumatic brain injury, with severe and likely irreversible cognitive deficits,” according to court papers.

The suit alleges that there were no warning signs posted and no fences or netting to prevent people from hanging out under the trees, violating numerous park policies requiring the removal of exotic species that create safety hazards and mandating the installation of warning signs “necessary for visitor safety.”

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sign put up after incident

[JanMichael]

1. in a small way i get his point but...nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. picture of him at the link. He's got a big dent in his head!

[LiberalElite]

4. This reminded me of a federal lawsuit

where a guy working in a yacht drydock was hit in the head by a winch which resulted in a dented head. He suffered serious psychiatric problems due to the injury to the front of his brain. I remember this from when I was just hired as a secretary in a civil defense law firm. (I don't know what the outcome was because the attorney quit and took that client with him. )

[JanMichael]

6. not denied but if i saw giant pods under a tree i would not sit under it. they fell from somewhere?

if there was a freeze and i saw huge pieces if recently shattered ice on the sidewalk i would look up and probably not wait to see the next slab or cickle fall on my face.

that was my "but"...

[petronius]

7. I wondered if the cones were accumulating under the trees, or if the landscape crew

was in the habit of cleaning them up. If a lot of them had accumulated then I'd be less sympathetic to his case, but I still see his point: a typical and expected use of urban public parks is to sit or lie in the shade. If the park knew of the hazard, I think they had a responsibility. *

Of course, he was somewhere the the hazard was more expected--getting wonked by a coulter pine up in Los Padres NF, say--then I would think the onus was on him...

(* Caveat: I am not any sort of attorney or legal scholar.)

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. probably the kind of thing people haul away as souveniers! I know I'd take one home.

[JanMichael]

11. that us plausible. people may have scooped them up. nt.

[pnwmom]

13. A lot of people wouldn't look that carefully to see what the tree contained,

or have any idea how heavy those things are.

But the park knew, so it should have had a warning sign.

[joshcryer]

23. Surprised that didn't kill him.

[irisblue]

3. those are huge, poor guy

[Travis_0004]

5. Seems like a dumb lawsuit

Just cut down the trees and put up a sign that says "this is why we can't have nice things"

[pipoman]

8. Apparently the forest service realizes the threat

Since they have protocol for this and just faied to execute the protocol. If I have a public restroom and I fail to keep the floors dry I can be sued for someone's injuries.

[pnwmom]

14. I disagree. The park had an obligation to warn people of non-obvious dangers.

And many people could have had no idea how heavy those seed pods are.

[Logical]

21. Totally a legit lawsuit. Nt

[LisaL]

24. They shouldn't have planted those trees to begin with.

It's an exotic specie not endogenous to the area. Who came up with the brilliant idea to plant trees the produce giant pine cones in the area where people like to walk?

[Liberal_in_LA]

25. Crazy tree. No tree needs seeds that big.

[CentralMass]

26. The trees may have evolved a developed a defense against lumber jacks.

The poor guy.

[NV Whino]

9. I have pines all around my house

Those damned cones are lethal. If this guy has lost function because of his injury, he needs to be compensated.

Geez, the acorns from my oak tree nearly bonked one of my cats the other day. Hard hats for all!

[Initech]

12. That is one mutant pinecone!

The Mutant Pinecones, by the way, saw them at the Troubadour last week. Awesome band.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

15. Sir Isaac Newton called and said, "Walk it off and invent some physics or something!"

[pinboy3niner]

16. Damn, he was hardcore!

[jfern]

17. Wow, might need one of these

[Warpy]

18. Maybe he should sue the Blue Angels

Likely the racket they made jarred that pine cone loose.

[Snobblevitch]

19. At first I was ready to say this guy is full of shit.

Then I saw the size of the pinecones and the fact that there were no warning signs. This guy deserves a large settlement.

[nilram]

29. And did you see the dent in his head? Seriously.

His pic is in the gallery at the article. Seems lucky to be alive.

[Rex]

20. .

[Eureka]

22. Courtesy of Australia, where even the pine trees can kill you

Bunya is an Australian native. You can hear them thump in the forest during the season. The "pine nuts" are about as big as a golf ball and are reasonable bush tucker when roasted. They have to block off school playgrounds where someone thought it wise to plant them many many years ago.

The would most certainly cause the injuries listed, even the smallest of them. Think pinecone mated with bowling ball.

[frizzled]

27. In a lot of tropical countries there are warning signs about coconuts falling from trees all over

If Vanuatu can warn people about a head-crushing danger, I don't see why SF can't.

[jberryhill]

34. Yep

Touristy places with coconut trees tend to have signs about that.

[deathrind]

28. Really?

Wow...lets just bubble wrap the entire world.

[hobbit709]

30. go to Miami during a cold spell and it would be iguanas and coconuts.

[Buns_of_Fire]

31. I was almost been taken out by coconuts twice when I lived in south Florida.

Once, when a full-grown one fell and narrowly missed me -- but bounced off the car I was standing next to and hit me in the stomach; and once when one jumped out from under a car I was following and viciously attacked the front tire of my motorcycle. They're cunning, they are.

Thankfully, I never had an iguana try an aerial assault.

[jberryhill]

35. Leaping lizards!

[Orrex]

32. The only way to stop a bad tree with a pine cone...

[edgineered]

33. Imagine being on that jury! DU would look like kindergarten. nt