By: Joseph Smith
As part of a holiday promotion, TGI Friday's announced that it would
have drones fly through its restaurants carrying mistletoe over patrons.
Apparently not realizing that it would only serve to highlight the stupidity
of this idea, a TGI Friday's in Brooklyn, New York invited a reporter
to come and write about the drones use in the restaurant and take pictures
of couples kissing underneath the mistletoe. TGI Friday's and the
gentleman operating the drones in the restaurant seemed to have missed
all the warnings about the dangers of using drones indoors unless they
are specifically designed to fly indoors. The restaurant used two drones
– one 23-inch drone with six uncovered propellers with five-inch
blades and one 10-inch drone with four blades.
During the visit to the restaurant, the employee operating the drone decided he wanted to show the reporter how the drone could land on her hand. When he started to land the drone, the reporter flinched, resulting in the drone flying into the face of the photograph cutting her nose and chin. Rather than admit that trying to land a drone one someone's hand is not safe, the operator and the restaurant blamed the journalist for flinching, arguing that no one else had been hurt before by a drone at the restaurant.
Fortunately in this instance the injuries suffered by the photographer were relatively minor. But as she was quick to point out, an inch or so higher or to the left or right, and the propeller would have struck her in the eye and caused a much more significant and severe injury. This kind of behavior by businesses, which may seem harmless, is often how innocent people get hurt, especially when business take a similar "Well, no one else has been hurt" attitude after the fact. Rather than learn from these experiences, businesses and property owners continue to act with a disregard for the safety of their customers and endanger innocent people.
The personal injury lawyers at Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C., have years of experience holding individuals and corporations responsible for their negligent and reckless conduct. If you or someone you love has been injured through no fault of your own, please give us a call for a free consultation.