Remember the news story of the lady who spilled hot coffee and sued McDonald's?
10-27-2013, 07:41 AM
#22
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Location: Front row
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190 degrees of any liquid is too hot for anyone to handle. I would never give a person a cup of scalding liquid to carry around. Brewing it that hot is fine but have sense enough to let it cool down before serving.
10-27-2013, 01:17 PM
#25
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Location: Kenai, Alaska
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I totally agree with you. I do not like cool or cold coffee--I expect it to be hot. During all my years of drinking tea or coffee I have never put the cup between my legs--paper or otherwise--moving or not moving--in a vehicle or not.
Yes, so correct about the older skin. I watched the video. I never had an opinion on the story as did not have a television at the time. Maybe it is because I do not have any judgment history on this that I see some things that scream out, to me at least, that McDonald's was the victim. 81 year old skin is paper-tissue thin. 81 year olds know they their muscles and limbs shake and are not as easy to control. 81 year olds know it is not gonna work putting a cup of anything between your legs to balance without getting some spilled over the top. At the beginning of the story it was mentioned the vehicle only had curved surfaces so the cup was put between the legs. Her reasoning for putting the coffee between the paper-thin skinned thighs was because the car was not made to accommodate drinks on the go. So, did the coffee burn because it was too hot or because there were only curved surfaces in the vehicle? Blaming the auto mfgr is about as silly as blaming McDonalds. Out of the seven hundred burns mentioned, how many were the result of removing the entire lid to put cream and sugar in, instead of just through the drink/sip opening? Were they burned because they treated a travel beverage as a table-top beverage? Most 81 year olds would be too shaky to pour cream through just the sip hole and many were/are in the habit of asking it be added before they get the drink or request a few ice cubes to be put in. This woman chose to compensate for her age by opening the entire lid and no, she was not driving, but was the car in motion all the same? The fact is she would not have gotten burned if she would have acted her age. She would not have gotten burned if she had kept the lid on; or asked for ice to be put in, etc.. If her skin burned that severely at 190 degrees, she still would have had substantial burning at 170-180 degrees because.......her skin was so fragile. Thank goodness the coffee was at the higher temperature or we would be getting our coffee at all restaurants and gas stations at the not-so-hot temp of 160 degrees! (Yes, it is sad she was so badly burned, but this video has me wondering how in the heck she was awarded anything.
10-27-2013, 01:21 PM
#27
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Location: Kenai, Alaska
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If my coffee is too hot--I let it cool down--I do not remove the lid. I believe it was total negligence on her part.
I'm very sorry she was burned so badly. Honestly, I'm not a callous person but a couple things come to mind. In the video she did not appear to be shaky and is by no means senile so she was aware of the possible consequences if it spilled. If they were parked outside in preparation to eat I would have opened the car door and dumped some out so it would cool faster and then sat it on the floor until I was ready to drink it. Personally, I dislike lukewarm "anything"that's suppose to be hot.
10-27-2013, 01:30 PM
#28
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Location: League City, Texas, USA
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I'm not a coffee drinker, but do not think it is beyond reason that any hot beverage I buy at any restaurant, be within a serving temperature as to be enjoyable but not so hot that it can cause such burns. If the 'public' wants coffee so hot, let them do it at home. where it is in a somewhat controlled environment. I too, originally thought this was a frivolous lawsuit. It is unfortunate that the news media does not report all the facts, so assumptions are made based on what we do hear. Accidents happen. But the worst she should have suffered was brown coffee stain on her cloths, not the painful and terrible burns she exhibited. McDonald's and all other restaurants that serve to-go hot beverages would be best served to head the dangers.
10-27-2013, 02:37 PM
#29
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Location: PA
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We have become such a litigious society, nobody says "Oops, I screwed up!", but "I've been hurt - it must be SOMEBODY'S fault!" Why not sue the car company for not having a food serving surface? What happened was a poor decision on her part ( or the driver's) not to eat inside at a table which would have provided a secure surface for coffee. How about if you trip down the stairs because you're carrying a laundry basket and not holding the railing? Do you sue the builder? I have cut my hand by slicing apples in my hand instead of on the cutting board. Should I sue the knife company? Or the apple orchard? If you do something potentially stupid, like putting hot coffee next your very sensitive privates, be prepared for the consequences. This is why we have those ridiculous warnings on things that would just require common sense. Like ' don't use the lawn mower to trim your hedges' . I'm sorry an old lady was hurt, but totally her fault.
Last edited by quiltmom04; 10-27-2013 at 02:50 PM.
10-27-2013, 04:19 PM
#30
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 2,281
Tartan is right... maybe we need to go after fast food purveyors who use chintzy cups for hot beverages. If they would apply some financial pressure to their suppliers, I'm sure things would change quickly. Not only that, but those foam or foam-like cups have all sorts of toxic chemicals in them, which leech out into the beverage. Not that the FDA doesn't know this... they DO... they just figure we don't, so they don't do anything about it.
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