Saw in the news yesterday 2 young (in their twenties i think) brothers killed in Jimalalud by a falling coconut tree as they were driving along the national highway on their motorbike. There but for the grace of god springs to mind. Note that this was the national highway not some dirt track in the middle of the jungle. Almost every day i see coconuts lying in the cement road we use, these have dropped without warning from 30 or 40 feet up, even if you are in a car that's dangerous so how about if your on a motorbike. As i have said in a previous post what's the chances of the tree owner paying for the damage or hospital charges or burial , yes that's right "zero" All these trees within 2 metres of the cemented roads should be removed, stray dogs next.
Not sure if they got hit by the tree when it fell or hit the tree when it was already down. If the latter then clearing two meters obviously wouldn't help much to prevent future accidents.
It would prevent coconuts landing on the road which would be a step in the right direction, Rome was not built in a day.
Translated from the Yes Dumaguete Facebook Page: "BROTHERS IN JIMALALUD, DEAD AFTER BEING COVERED BY A COCONUT The two brothers died after they were hit by a coconut tree while riding a motorcycle on the National Highway, Barangay South Poblacion in the town of Jimalalud around 12 noon last Sunday, Apr. 9, 2023. The police identified the brothers as Karl Darwin Magos, 23 years old, and Clyde Magos, 31 years old, who are all single and residents of the mentioned barangay. It was learned from the report that the brothers were traveling on the national highway while riding a motorcycle when the coconut tree suddenly fell and crashed into them. They were supposed to be traveling to the sea in Barangay Bae to bathe. According to Assistant Investigator, SSg Joey Patoc, the brothers died instantly because of what happened. He added, the tree fell because there were only a few people holding it."
This was not in in the report i originally saw so i thought the tree fell due to natural causes such as being rotten, now sounds like it was being cut down, what kind of negligence is that...... We were driving home one day when a bunch of coconuts landed on the concrete about 10 metres ahead of us so we stopped, there was a guy up the tree harvesting the coconuts but the lookout was nowhere to be seen, he then suddenly appeared from the bushes at the roadside, he was laughing and seemed to be amused by his own stupidity, he kicked the coconuts off the road and we drove on. Its more fun.......
Heard they old saying, The nut didn't fall very far from the tree? This is a case of the tree falling too far from the nut, with the saw