Chicago Graduate Student Backs Up For Picture And Falls Off San Diego’s Sunset Cliff

We have seen prior cases of inopportune or dangerous pictures that result in tragedy on vacations or special occasions (here and here). We now have the tragic case of Anna Bachman, 25, a Chicago graduate student studying for a master’s degree in urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Bachman was killed when she lost her balance and fell from the Sunset Cliffs in San Diego.

Bachman was visiting her sister and taking a picture at sunset when she stepped back and back until she went over a cliff and fell 100 to 150 feet onto massive sandstone rocks. She was clearly an intelligent and compassionate person. She graduated from the University of California Berkeley and had volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for three years.

People tried to assist her but it was to no avail. There is no liability issue in such cases with open and dangerous natural conditions. At the cliffs, there are signs reading “Beware of cliffs,” “Warning” and “Unstable cliffs.” If you back off a cliff, most courts treat it as a matter of plaintiffs’ conduct from comparative negligence to assumption of the risk.

Source: Chicago Tribune