Lawyers need to make a living and inventing new ways to blame corporations for accidents is great for business. In fact, helping corporations protect themselves from lawyers who would blame them is also quite profitable.
This is a photo of an actual sign, on an actual gas pump, where I actually bought some gas recently.
What I want to know is this: Has any gas-pump patron ever spontaneously combusted when static electricity ignited the fumes around the pump? Ever?
Think about the waste in this folly. Consider the time and effort some commercial team had to put into the consideration of this warning, the legal fees and effort associated with drafting the message, the design, printing and distribution of stickers for all the pumps across the nation that now bear this sticker. What an utter, misguided waste of effort.
I think this was at the root of Auggie's rant back in 2009 when he wrote about "The Blame Game".
Overall, I think we have a pretty good legal system compared to others around the world. I also think that it is systematically exploited by profit-minded lawyers.
Well, it could be lawyers fishing, or it could be because this is actually a real problem... especially in cold, dry climates where static electricity could build up.
ReplyDeletebut, why take my word for it. here is proof of a patron violating sticker rule #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuZxFL9cGkI