They Missed Out Bananas, Mushrooms & Baked Beans.

[mingc]

But to address Jay's more existential question, WHY?, all of these disclaimers are to avoid liability.

Liability avoidance is largely an American thing. It has to do with our medical costs and lack of universal health care. Also lawyers getting a cut of recovery out of contingency agreements. This was illegal under the common law and still is illegal in other places.

For the other countries, I suspect the warnings are partly meant as a joke about Americans and partly to actually warn. If peanuts give you anaphylactic shock, you'd certainly appreciate a peanut warning. In my old country, you'd just die and that's just the way it is.

 

[mawnansmiff]

I cannot say that this is true but I once read/was told that Winnebago had to rewrite their owner's manual regards the cruise control function of their vehicles after an incident where some elderly chap was touring the US, selected cruise control then wandered to the back of the vehicle to make a coffee with the inevitable result.

As I say I cannot prove the veracity of this but it does sound quite legit to me and fits in well with some of the above comments regards crazy legal claims.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[timelord]

a slight digression; the best ingredients list I've seen on a product was on a bottle of Comrade Bill Bartrams Egalitarian Anti Imperialist Soviet Stout from the now sadly defunct Bartrams Brewery in Suffolk.


It was of a course a Russian Imperial Stout.

 

[sablebrush52]

If peanuts give you anaphylactic shock, you'd certainly appreciate a peanut warning. In my old country, you'd just die and that's just the way it is.

Your old country sounds far more efficient.

 

[greeneyes]

Strictly speaking, from a scientific standpoint, a distillate of rye will not contain rye.

 

[mingc]

Your old country sounds far more efficient.

In many ways, it is. Ruthless culling weeds out the weak. I came to the States when I was 18 and have lived here over 40 years now, i.e., many more years here than there. I can count on one hand people I've met here in the last 40 years who died young. Whereas, I know dozens from my youth growing up in my old home town who died young after high school. Dozens. The difference is stark.

 

[weezell]

Liability avoidance is largely an American thing. It has to do with our medical costs and lack of universal health care.

MMMmm, I don't get that statement. Liability avoidance is due to stupid people doing stupid things...

 

[mingc]

MMMmm, I don't get that statement. Liability avoidance is due to stupid people doing stupid things...

The previous posts were about product warnings and stickers. Jesse said they're about liability avoidance. I said that that is largely an American phenomenon because people in other countries aren't sue happy like in America. They may not have the right to access the courts like we do in the US and/or the need to do so. So, as I understand it, people don't sue each other much in the UK because if they loose they have to pay the other side's costs including lawyer fees (in the US, in general, each side pays for their own lawyers fees, win or lose). This is a big disincentive to sue. On they other hand, the Brits have free universal health care and better jobless benefits, so they may not have to sue to cover their losses.

If you don't think you'll get sued, you're less bothered with the need to put a sticker on your 240v doohickey that you're selling that says, "Unplug Before Inserting in Any Body Orifice." However, if you're in America, you might think hard about skipping such a sticker, because a jury of 12 of your peers might give the idiot who used your doohickey in the bath $millions for lack of a warning sticker.

 

[beefeater33]

Where can I get one of these doohickeys?.......
Asking for a friend, (cough,cough)..............

 

[weezell]

so they may not have to sue to cover their losses.

If the warning is not there, they will still try to sue. Stupid is what stupid is no matter where you are...

 

[weezell]

I do appreciate your take on this...