5 year old killed in rotating restaurant-caught between floor and wall

[Anonymous]

They were also the only people in the restaurant, so their vigilance in terms of child behavior may have been down. . .I'd be more likely to let my five year old wander off in an empty restaurant to look at the window as long as she wasn't annoying anyone - kids climb trees and break arms, suck on jawbreakers and choke, this is a freak accident in my opinion - nowhere in parent training does it say that children can die looking out the window or screwing around in a rotating restaurant - do kids die falling out of trees, yes, but we still let kids climb trees

[Anonymous]

Doesn't exactly look like a kid-friendly restaurant. The child is said to have wandered away from the parents. All parents lapse, though it's not usually fatal.

Death of a child is the ultimate, unbelievably tragic "punishment." I think the relate-ability is making people defensive in a "how could you blame the parents!!!" sort of way. The child could not have known their risk in a restaurant - it is always up to the parent to do that for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about that ex-NFL player who drove over and killed his 3 year old? Just give me a gun, so I could off myself. I cannot imagine.

It happened here in Potomac, MD a couple years ago. Mother backing out of driveway and didn't see daughter who ran out.

This is why back-up cameras will be mandatory in all vehicles in the US starting next year.

There are constantly incidents about this. The car I want doesn't come with a camera as an option so I'm waiting till 2018 where it is required. No way I'd buy another car without one.

This accident happened when he was going forward, not reverse.

A kid can move faster than someone can anticipate stepping on the brake unfortunately.

This is such a downer thread. My heart goes out to the parents who watched their kid die in front of them.

People are looking for excuses to blame parents. I wonder how many posters who say the it's the parents fault, do stuff like text and drive. Truly, put your phone down and drive.

This is true, but the restaurant wasn't rotating fast. It takes one hour for the restaurant to make one full circle. So whatever the child was doing, it probably wasn't for a fraction of a second.

I was speaking about accidents involving a kid darting out behind a car, but in terms of the restaurant I agree with PP that even though the restaurant is moving slower, it might not have been a second, but if he was positioned where he was stuck it could take seconds for him to remain stuck.

It's just horrific. I don't understand people's outrage toward the parents for this accident or the Disney alligator thing. (I was really mad at the mom b/c the gorilla died, but after my initial outrage, my heart softened. All parents have bad days.) The only parent that I really see as culpable is the mom who perched her kid on top of the railing of the wild dogs. All horrific experiences for these parents.

My point is that many people put their kids at unnecessary risk by doing things like texting and driving. So I think most people who say that they would never let X, Y, Z happen are probably hypocrites. But to prove them wrong, they'd have to lose a child. I'd rather not prove them wrong, just take everyday safety more seriously, not freak happenings.

Yes, but it took longer than seconds for the child to have wandered, looked for a place to go, and gotten stuck. The parents should have been vigilant of their child in a restaurant, especially one that is not a kid-focused place.

No one's expressing "outrage" towards the parents. It's horrific and tragic and sad. And I think extremely relatable. But that doesn't mean that the parents weren't negligent. The entire world is a dangerous place - you can't expect the world to accommodate you. Children will dart into traffic - that doesn't mean you put walls up everywhere, on sidewalks or paths. Rare tragedies happen, - you have to take the precautions into your own hands.

[mjsmith]

For those angry at people "blaming" the parents. who else is to "blame". If you bring a child into this world it is your job to care for the the child until they reach such an age that they can care for themselves.

its not the restaurants job to watch your kids or the servers job. is the parents job.

restaurant has been open since 1976. one death.... I can't really find fault with the restaurant...
But I'm sure they will be sued...and pay out....

parents leave guns out and kids get shot, parents forget and leave kids in the car and they die, parents leave pesticide accessible to kids and they die, parents leave laundry or dish-washing pods where kids can get them and they get hurt/die.

common denominators is parents watching kids. or in these cases failing to watch kids.

yes its a shame....but....

[Anonymous]

I don't blame the parents but I hate all the people blaming the restaurant too. How long has it been operating without incident? Sometimes shitty things just happen. There isn't always someone to blame. Nevertheless I'm sure the poor restaurant will have to pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sadly, child was a few feet away and not being supervised by a parent. Child should have been sitting at the table but somehow got caught in the floor and died.

Children do wander off sometimes-this apparently happened very quickly. I often see kids getting up in restaurants and walking around-not ideal, but it happens

Not when they are sitting and parents are supervising. Mine know not to get out of the seat without our permission and if they need to go somewhere a parent goes. They probably had clothing or a shoe get caught.

Oh, just fu<k off.

[Anonymous]

Maybe his clothes got caught in the revolving mechanism and he simply got dragged between to hard objects (wall and table leg). Those poor parents, I can't even imagine what they must be going through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't blame the parents but I hate all the people blaming the restaurant too. How long has it been operating without incident? Sometimes shitty things just happen. There isn't always someone to blame. Nevertheless I'm sure the poor restaurant will have to pay.

It was a freak accident. Something that never happened before. Why would anyone anticipate something like that happening?

It was just a horrible, tragic, freak accident.

[Anonymous]

mjsmith wrote:For those angry at people "blaming" the parents. who else is to "blame". If you bring a child into this world it is your job to care for the the child until they reach such an age that they can care for themselves.

its not the restaurants job to watch your kids or the servers job. is the parents job.

restaurant has been open since 1976. one death.... I can't really find fault with the restaurant...
But I'm sure they will be sued...and pay out....

parents leave guns out and kids get shot, parents forget and leave kids in the car and they die, parents leave pesticide accessible to kids and they die, parents leave laundry or dish-washing pods where kids can get them and they get hurt/die.

common denominators is parents watching kids. or in these cases failing to watch kids.

yes its a shame....but....

how about - nobody. nobody is to blame. it's noone's fault. it was an accident. shit happens.

who is to blame when a baby gets cancer and dies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at pictures, the child probably got stuck between one of the columns, and the outer end of a table. In order to do so, he had to have been doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. Probably something like "hey mom and dad! I'm gonna see if I can fit when we move!"

Otherwise I don't see how - the space is quite roomy, between the tables and windows.

Very tragic, and maybe the parents were tired and distracted, but it's still their responsibility to watch their child and make sure their child is behaving safely. The world isn't a toy - it's not the world's responsibility to make everything completely risk free. It requires some due diligence - like a parent watching their child, who doesn't have the development to understand that what they're doing may be dangerous.

I think he may have tried to hide behind one of the banquets and got caught in the gap. His head was then crushed between the banquette wall and one of the vertical metal adornments on the stationary wall. Those banquettes look like a child magnet for a kid trying to "hide" from his parents.

I read that he went behind the curved bench seats, it was rotating one way and he went the other-that makes sense how he could be crushed. Very sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't blame the parents but I hate all the people blaming the restaurant too. How long has it been operating without incident? Sometimes shitty things just happen. There isn't always someone to blame. Nevertheless I'm sure the poor restaurant will have to pay.

Their insurance will pay, and they will need to do something so it doesn't happen again. Not blaming the parents, but a child needs to stay seated and remain seated in a restaurant. Put them a a booster seat strapped in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't blame the parents but I hate all the people blaming the restaurant too. How long has it been operating without incident? Sometimes shitty things just happen. There isn't always someone to blame. Nevertheless I'm sure the poor restaurant will have to pay.

Their insurance will pay, and they will need to do something so it doesn't happen again. Not blaming the parents, but a child needs to stay seated and remain seated in a restaurant. Put them a a booster seat strapped in.

When the appeal of a restaurant is the view, a child walking up to the glass windows to look out is totally appropriate.

I generally agree that kids should stay seated in restaurants, but there's a difference between walking through an almost empty restaurant to look out a window, and running around wildly in a crowded situation.

I think the accident is no one's "fault". I also think that the restaurant designers and owners were responsible for designing the restaurant in a way that crush injuries weren't possible. If it's found that a faulty design, or a poorly designed or maintained stopping mechanism contributed, then I think it's appropriate for the restaurant and/or the design firm to pay. Those kinds of lawsuits are what provides the incentive for corporations to prioritize safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't blame the parents but I hate all the people blaming the restaurant too. How long has it been operating without incident? Sometimes shitty things just happen. There isn't always someone to blame. Nevertheless I'm sure the poor restaurant will have to pay.

Their insurance will pay, and they will need to do something so it doesn't happen again. Not blaming the parents, but a child needs to stay seated and remain seated in a restaurant. Put them a a booster seat strapped in.

When the appeal of a restaurant is the view, a child walking up to the glass windows to look out is totally appropriate.

I generally agree that kids should stay seated in restaurants, but there's a difference between walking through an almost empty restaurant to look out a window, and running around wildly in a crowded situation.

I think the accident is no one's "fault". I also think that the restaurant designers and owners were responsible for designing the restaurant in a way that crush injuries weren't possible. If it's found that a faulty design, or a poorly designed or maintained stopping mechanism contributed, then I think it's appropriate for the restaurant and/or the design firm to pay. Those kinds of lawsuits are what provides the incentive for corporations to prioritize safety.

The restaurant rotates - there's no need to walk around an look outside the windows.

There is no perfect design - life is inherently dangerous. But it requires people to exercise basic due diligence - in this case, the caretakers of a young child to take care of their young child. It doesn't exactly look like a "family friendly" or kid friendly restaurant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't blame the parents but I hate all the people blaming the restaurant too. How long has it been operating without incident? Sometimes shitty things just happen. There isn't always someone to blame. Nevertheless I'm sure the poor restaurant will have to pay.

Their insurance will pay, and they will need to do something so it doesn't happen again. Not blaming the parents, but a child needs to stay seated and remain seated in a restaurant. Put them a a booster seat strapped in.

When the appeal of a restaurant is the view, a child walking up to the glass windows to look out is totally appropriate.

I generally agree that kids should stay seated in restaurants, but there's a difference between walking through an almost empty restaurant to look out a window, and running around wildly in a crowded situation.

I think the accident is no one's "fault". I also think that the restaurant designers and owners were responsible for designing the restaurant in a way that crush injuries weren't possible. If it's found that a faulty design, or a poorly designed or maintained stopping mechanism contributed, then I think it's appropriate for the restaurant and/or the design firm to pay. Those kinds of lawsuits are what provides the incentive for corporations to prioritize safety.

The restaurant rotates - there's no need to walk around an look outside the windows.

There is no perfect design - life is inherently dangerous. But it requires people to exercise basic due diligence - in this case, the caretakers of a young child to take care of their young child. It doesn't exactly look like a "family friendly" or kid friendly restaurant.

Again you're blaming the parents. I wouldn't imagine that a 5 year old needed supervision when looking out a window, even or especially in a revolving restaurant. Nor did these parents.

It may have been a freak accident. It may be that the restaurant can redesign or fix the window to prevent a future accident from occurring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't blame the parents but I hate all the people blaming the restaurant too. How long has it been operating without incident? Sometimes shitty things just happen. There isn't always someone to blame. Nevertheless I'm sure the poor restaurant will have to pay.

Their insurance will pay, and they will need to do something so it doesn't happen again. Not blaming the parents, but a child needs to stay seated and remain seated in a restaurant. Put them a a booster seat strapped in.

When the appeal of a restaurant is the view, a child walking up to the glass windows to look out is totally appropriate.

I generally agree that kids should stay seated in restaurants, but there's a difference between walking through an almost empty restaurant to look out a window, and running around wildly in a crowded situation.

I think the accident is no one's "fault". I also think that the restaurant designers and owners were responsible for designing the restaurant in a way that crush injuries weren't possible. If it's found that a faulty design, or a poorly designed or maintained stopping mechanism contributed, then I think it's appropriate for the restaurant and/or the design firm to pay. Those kinds of lawsuits are what provides the incentive for corporations to prioritize safety.

The restaurant rotates - there's no need to walk around an look outside the windows.

There is no perfect design - life is inherently dangerous. But it requires people to exercise basic due diligence - in this case, the caretakers of a young child to take care of their young child. It doesn't exactly look like a "family friendly" or kid friendly restaurant.

Again you're blaming the parents. I wouldn't imagine that a 5 year old needed supervision when looking out a window, even or especially in a revolving restaurant. Nor did these parents.

It may have been a freak accident. It may be that the restaurant can redesign or fix the window to prevent a future accident from occurring.

Yes, I'm absolutely blaming the parents. Doesn't mean that it was deliberate. Doesn't mean that they aren't going through immense pain. Doesn't mean that they should be punished, as losing your child is punishment enough. Doesn't mean that I'm perfect, or that other parents are perfect.

But when you have a young child, you are responsible for their wellbeing. You are responsible for monitoring them. You are responsible for seeing risk where they cannot. Given that something like this has not happened in the restaurant's long existence, it's unlikely to really be a serious design flaw. The world is flawed by design - bottom line is that the parents should have been watching their child, especially at a restaurant that is clearly not designed specifically for kids.