NYT story on courts clearing way for lawsuit by tourist against city of Newport for allegedly not having enough safety measures WRT its famed Cliff Walk.
Usual dumbass behavior by off-islanders: guy walks off trail down to water, slips and paralyzes himself. Usual trick is to stand very close to edge of water for picture-taking, and while back to water, sneaker wave sucks person off shore to watery death.
Having lived on the island for 7 years and spent countless hours on various cliffs and beaches and shorelines, I'd see this behavior all the time. And I'd just shake my head and make my polite warnings, but my advice was just as quickly blown off by know-it-alls as would be any additional signs or fences. People will just not be told what to do when they're on vacation, and then they want somebody else to pay for their mistakes.
Don't get me wrong, me and mine would engage in all sorts of similar behavior--just with our eyes wide open (I will confess to slipping past the cops with my kids to surf during hurricane surges). And we loved RI's landscape for all those opportunities afforded to commune with nature. But nature is nature, not a Disney ride.