Todd Scott Lemmon gets $50k for falling off a swing

Perhaps they should re-peel the relevant compo laws.

I’m sure he feels slightly less pipped now and will approach life with considerably greater zest…

neanderthalsis said :

Hands up everyone who as a kid or even as an (ir)responsible adult has fallen off a swing, slippery slide, fallen out of a tree or had a slip/trip/fall due to their own stupidity?

I’ve got both hands up !

Scott Lemmon has 50 000 reasons to feel less BITTER about his accident. Its just a shame these claims are a SQUEEZE on the taxpayer’s hip pocket.

Well I think this award is a Lemmon.

Serious facial injuries?

One does wonder what he actually did and if he was clowning around(i.e. being a normal 14yo). I can see how a swing can cause serious facial injuries, but only if you were being a bit of a git to begin with.

Hands up everyone who as a kid or even as an (ir)responsible adult has fallen off a swing, slippery slide, fallen out of a tree or had a slip/trip/fall due to their own stupidity?

Some people grow up and learn from their mistakes, some people sue…

Working Families could do a lot with $50 000.

I blame man-bear-pig;

Pfft. I think almost EVERY 14 year old has fallen off one of those things.

But has everyone sued and wantd compo about it? No.

(But that gives me ideas, i err, fell off the flying fox at kambah adventure playground, when i was like 15, because it was frosty, due to it being winter. Wheres my pay out??)

peterh said :

I agree with whatsup – if i fell out of a tree when i was a kid, silly bloody me. didn’t do it again.
monkey bars were the prime target for stupid behaviour, especially when they put them in at lake ginninderra, but if you fell off the equipment, your parents first thought wasn’t “litigate!” they would brush you down and send you on your way to play with the other kids.

we used to build flying foxes in trees, cubby houses, go-karts etc, and had our share of bumps and bruises, but no-one thought about blaming the govt for falling off a playground item….

my particular favorite was the round spinning thing at the top shops in charnwood – if you got enough speed up, you could either:
a)hang onto the outer bars like a propeller and clean up your mates with your feet, or let go and slam into them…

b)try to get to the centre where you would stand upright while some big kid would make it go even faster, till you fell over and possibly got thrown off….

but I never thought that it was dangerous – anything is dangerous if used incorrectly…

100% in agreement with you. I blame the yanks for all this litigation crap.

astrojax said :

me thinks that it was Mr Lemmon’s own fault for getting on the swing in the first place.

spidey, i’d imagine that the ‘foreseeable risk’ was maybe foreseeable by competent employed maintenance workers, not nec a 14 yr old kid… but the kid oughta have known he wasn’t a giraffe…

Possibly. But as a kid, I had been to a few playgrounds that looked a little dodgy from vandlism etc and thought, “Gee, that might be a little dangerous.

That is why I put in my comment, depending on the appearance or the state of repair of the equipment.

What a scammer!

I don’t go along the Parkway very often, but when I do I have never seen a giraffe at the zoo. I keep wondering, how the hell do you hide a giraffe??? I think I know where they usually hang out now……

me thinks that it was Mr Lemmon’s own fault for getting on the swing in the first place.

spidey, i’d imagine that the ‘foreseeable risk’ was maybe foreseeable by competent employed maintenance workers, not nec a 14 yr old kid… but the kid oughta have known he wasn’t a giraffe…

I was hit by an Action bus in 1989 whilst standing at the bus stop at Weetangera shops. It knocked me about 4 metres. The bus driver begged me not to tell my parents. The bus was full of kids. I told my school and phoned action and nothing ever happened. Good to see that some people get compo.

P.s. i am fine by the way and i have not caught a bus since.

$50,000?? An outraged populace asks: “HOW MANY FULL-DAY ACTIONS PASSES IS THAT?”

Jonathon Reynolds said :

I didn’t know what a “giraffe swing” was:

http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/hansard/2004/week06/2787.htm
(click the “next page” link to see the response from then Minister Bill Wood)

I know that at one stage there was a fair amount of fuss about the state (disrepair) of the “flying fox” at Yerabbi Park. There was a concerted media campaign by residents about it at one stage. I’m not sure if the flying fox is still there.

oh great. i find out what a giraffe swing is only after they removed the one in kambah district park.

I didn’t know what a “giraffe swing” was:

http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/hansard/2004/week06/2787.htm
(click the “next page” link to see the response from then Minister Bill Wood)

I know that at one stage there was a fair amount of fuss about the state (disrepair) of the “flying fox” at Yerabbi Park. There was a concerted media campaign by residents about it at one stage. I’m not sure if the flying fox is still there.

I prefer to blame Danny Krane’s late night rants on television stirring up the greater unwashed.

stereo henry said :

Spideydog: my comment is made on face value

pun intended? lol

No, not really, but now I see (had to think for a second) LOL.

I agree with whatsup – if i fell out of a tree when i was a kid, silly bloody me. didn’t do it again.
monkey bars were the prime target for stupid behaviour, especially when they put them in at lake ginninderra, but if you fell off the equipment, your parents first thought wasn’t “litigate!” they would brush you down and send you on your way to play with the other kids.

we used to build flying foxes in trees, cubby houses, go-karts etc, and had our share of bumps and bruises, but no-one thought about blaming the govt for falling off a playground item….

my particular favorite was the round spinning thing at the top shops in charnwood – if you got enough speed up, you could either:
a)hang onto the outer bars like a propeller and clean up your mates with your feet, or let go and slam into them…

b)try to get to the centre where you would stand upright while some big kid would make it go even faster, till you fell over and possibly got thrown off….

but I never thought that it was dangerous – anything is dangerous if used incorrectly…

Spideydog: my comment is made on face value

pun intended? lol

Quote: “Master David Harper told the ACT Supreme Court there was a foreseeable risk of injury to users of the swing which was often vandalised and damaged.”

If it was that foreseeable, me thinks that it was Mr Lemmon’s own fault for getting on the swing in the first place. (in saying that, i don’t know the full circumstances, the appearence or state of repair of the swing – my comment is made on face value)

The Government cannot monitor EVERY sing set, etc in the ACT around the clock, 24/7. Whatever happened to people taking responsibility for their actions. It seems that this a quality lost these days.

Sadly, it may see the end to parks and playsets in the ACT. The vandals and money grabbing litigators win again…….

We’ve already had several lots of play equipment removed from parks around our area. Litigation of this sort encourages the government to take the easiest and cheapest option, remove all swings and equipment from parks and therefore nobody can blame them when they are injured.

We are supposed to be encouraging our kids to play outdoors and be physically active. A well maintained playground is a tool that parents can use to do this.