10th Annual Wacky Warning Labels Out 445
autophile writes "It's official: M-Law's 10th Annual Wacky Warning Label Contest is over. First prize has gone to a washing machine label urging not to put people in washers. Started to promote awareness of excessive litigation, the contest highlights common sense warning labels, such as the one that warns not to dry cellphones in microwave ovens. Companies find it necessary to stick crazy warnings on their products because of previous insane lawsuits: 'A front loader (washing machine) is just at the right height — speaking now as a mother and not a corporate spokeswoman — for a four-year-old,' said Patti Andresen Shew of Alliance Laundry Systems. Personally, I think a four-year-old precocious enough to read and understand all the warning labels hidden all over a product probably doesn't need those labels."
Re:Nice (Score:2, Informative)
http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html [rabbit.org]
Reason for this kind of warning (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I don't iron my lottery tickets (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Excessive litigation better than the alternativ (Score:5, Informative)
After all, the situation is identical to hot coffee lady, except this time the drink is too cold.
Hardly. The plaintiff was not driving, nor was the car moving when she got burned. She held the cup between her legs and was opening it to put in sweetener when it spilled.
McDonald's had reports of injuries before this event; they even knew it was being served too hot to be consumed. McD's refuised to settle, and eventually lost to the tune of $500,000 - then they settled.
This case is not, despite the FUD, a stellar example of lawsuit abuse; rather it highlights what the court system should do - hold people accountable on both sides. (The award was reduced 20% due to the plaintiffs actions being viewed as partly responsible)
Re:Reason for this kind of warning (Score:5, Informative)
Article here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/wet-baby-in-t
We need better warning labels on the
Spin cycle=120 G's (Score:3, Informative)
- Spinning is fun
- The washing machine spins
- I should go for a ride.
So they set the dial, climb in and close the lid. Within seconds the G-forces are so intense they can't move their arms to open the lid. Seconds later they can't breathe. Seconds after that the blood is forced out of their brain and they're unconscious. This is an incredible blessing because in less than a minute the skin on their back has ruptured and all the blood and bile and lymph is being flung out of their bodies and pumped away by the washer. The sixty pound unbalanced load is chump change compared to the hundred and sixty pounds of water a washer usually has to spin out. And those sixty pound boys, he told me, get spun down to about thirty pounds of bones and mush.18 G's is fatal. Washers subject their load to several minutes G's forces comparable to driving into a concrete wall at 100MPH. So yeah, a little label reminding the grownups that a washing machine will kill the shit out of anything or anybody put in it is a bad idea.
Large Appliance Entrapment Deaths of Children (Score:3, Informative)
Not so ridiculous as you might think:
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received reports of numerous suffocation deaths involving children who crawled inside latch type freezers, clothes dryers, combination washer/dryer units, picnic coolers, iceboxes in campers, and old-style latch type refrigerators. Most of the victims were 4 to 7 years old. In all cases, the doors could not be easily pushed open from the inside. In some of the incidents associated with clothes dryers, the appliance was accidentally turned on while the child was inside.
Frequently, the children were playing "hide-and-seek" and the appliance or chest provided a deceptively good place to hide. When the door slammed shut, the tight fitting gasket on most of the appliances cut off air to the child. This, along with the insulated construction of the appliance, also prevented the child's screams from being heard. But abandoned appliances are not the only items involved with accidents like these. Entrapment deaths have been reported in products in use or stored in the kitchen, laundry room, basement, or garage. Deaths also have occurred in iceboxes located in campers parked outside the home. Preventing Large Appliance Entrapment Deaths to Children [foh4you.com]
Re:Excessive litigation better than the alternativ (Score:3, Informative)
"More doctors smoke camels than any other cigarette..."
Re:Labels for the manufacturers (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Spin cycle=120 G's (Score:3, Informative)
Have you ever tried spinning an out of ballance load in a washing machine.
You won't get it past about 100rpm.
Myth Busters also tried this (albiet with an Adult) and is was way busted.
Re:Excessive litigation better than the alternativ (Score:2, Informative)
The root cause behind McDonald's loss was a poor legal strategy and the stupidity of the jury. McD put boring experts on the stand that put the jury to sleep. When the jury was awake they heard phrases like "statistically insignificant" and thought someone was insulting poor Stella Liebeck.
FWIW, there have been other cases similar to the McD case like McMahon vs. Bunn-O-Matic [findlaw.com] that have found for the defendants because of information like this:
(emphasis mine)
Re:Spin cycle=120 G's (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Well she has a point... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:bash.org says: (Score:3, Informative)
Like much of bash.org that's actually a Bill Hicks quote.
As for the article... The warning "Do not iron" on the lottery ticket is pretty funny as my mother did just that to a winning ticket a couple of weeks ago. My brother won some money and she said she'd cash it in for him - he handed her a crumpled up sliver of a ticket. She thought "They'll never take this!" and slapped it on the ironing board...
Good thing it was only for 9 euro
By someone who knows what they are doing (Score:3, Informative)
- One method is to go to a doctor, and the nurse will clean your ears out with hot soapy water.
- A better method is to find a hearing clinic that has a special machine that vacuums the wax out.
- There's also earwax dissolving drops, but I don't think they are really recommended.
The problem with trying to do anything to mechanically clean them is that you _will_ push some of the wax further in.
Re:My personal favourite (Score:2, Informative)
In other words, "Don't shoot your coworker in the ass with this device". Did this really need to be said? And was Black and Decker ever sued by the perpetrator? "Ladies and Gentleman of the jury, my client would have never landed in prison if it wasn't just so darn tempting to shoot someone in the ass with this device. It is obviously defective, so please give my client money so he can get drugs in prison and I can take my cut and roll around in it."