There is absolutely no excuse for leaving that cover off the hole. None.

Also, there is expectation on the part of the girl who lived in there, that there had always been a walkway there and there was no warning sign, (cones, barricade, etc.), that the walkway had been changed.

If you do something repeatedly and all is well, you certainly don't feel the need to keep checking.

I don't like the amount of texting that is done either, but the majority of the blame lies with the workers. She could have been reading a book, looking for something in her purse, watching something happening up the street. The texting is not the problem in this case.