On Fri, 3 Jan 1997 16:30:02 -0500 Jailbait <jailbait@apocalypse.org>
said:
> Stella Liebeck, 79, purchased a cup of McDonald's coffee while a
>passenger in her grandson's automobile. Ms. Liebeck attempted to hold
>the cup securely between her knees while she removed the plastic lid.
Only a complete idiot would place something that can tip over and
contains a dangerous fluid in a pivotal hold such as this, which
facilitates tipping.
>McDonald's coffee, if spilled, could cause full-thickness burns (third
>degree to the muscle/fatty tissue layer) in two to seven seconds.
So would the cup of tea I just made myself an hour ago. The water was
actually boiling when I poured it, which I believe is 212F. I did not,
however, attempt to hold it between my knees, did not suffer third degree
burns, did not go through START and did not collect $200k.
> McDonald's knew about this unacceptable risk for more than 10 years;
I've known about the risks of making tea for longer than that. I still do
it with boiling water, so I must be at least as dense as McDonald's :-)
> Most consumers don't know that coffee this hot causes such injuries.
Well, I guess most consumers in the US must be complete morons then, both
because they didn't learn this at school, and because they think that a
simple second degree facial burn (car brakes, user spills coffee on face)
is of little enough concern that there is no need to pay attention when
opening a cup of hot coffee in a motor vehicle. If this is the case, I
guess it makes sense to have laws designed for this degree of brain
usage. I'm just glad I live in a country that doesn't :-)
>Nor do they know McDonald's made a practice of serving its coffee this
>hot.
I guess their mommies never told them that when you grab a container of
something that is normally supposed to be hot, you first make sure to
find out just how hot it really is, yep, BEFORE putting your hand inside
or gulping it down or spilling it all over yourself. I learned this at
the same age I was told to grab knives by the handle.
Actually, this is doubly interesting. Try making an experiment the next
time you're at McDonald's and just ask people who have a cup of coffee on
their tray whether this is the first time they eat at McDonald's or not.
Something tells me you won't find many positive answers. Even mice have
the ability to learn and remember things from repeated usage, but
evidently "Most consumers" don't. How much did that lawyer make again?
30% of $2.9M, right? I know people who would feel genuinely sorry for the
plight of persecuted mosquitoes for that kind of money.
>What's wrong with penalizing irresponsible behavior that injures
>consumers?
Nothing. That's why we don't allow lawyers to run our country and
especially not to collect 30% of the damages awarded.
> The news media, the day after the verdict, established that coffee at
>the McDonald's in Albuquerque is now sold at 158 degrees. At that
>temperature, it would take about 60 seconds to cause third-degree burns.
>Mission accomplished.
And our next item on the agenda: ban tea pots that deliver water at
temperatures higher than 158F!
Eric
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