I disagree in that any fault should be assigned to the woman burnt by the hot coffee. It was the fault of the McDonald’s staff that handed her a cup super heated coffee as the employee was responsible for the lid to be secured properly.
The situation was: they'd ordered from the drive-thru, parked the car, then she placed the cup between her knees and pulled up on the far side of the lid (toward her) ... spilling the contents all over her pelvic/leg area.
There are safe methods of opening a cup. And then there are methods that are risky as hell, which presuppose a cup will remain balanced between knees as though "on rails."
Wasn't that an engineering degree was required to separate the lid from cup. Was that the method used wasn't effective and cautious. Which the contents dictated choosing.
I wouldn't categorize the coffee cup opening method problem as being similar to trust that an elevator maintenance log's legit, or similar to lug nuts being tightened competently at the tire rotation shop. Instead, at least IMO, seems clear that it's a basic product usage question. Such as ... given that Ford Mustang Cobra has 550hp, don't believe that "flooring" the throttle is a rational thing to do, and accept that 550hp will do things regular (ie, tepid or room temp) contents won't do if you don't exhibit caution while operating. Such as ... given knives are sharp, a modicum of caution needs to be employed lest a person cuts himself/herself. Such as ... greasy barbecue sauce will mar a shirt quicker than anything, if you clean your finger on your shirt sleeves; not that providers of particularly-stain-causing sauces should present warnings against such usage. Such as ... onions aren't grown round, thus they "slip" a bit when attempting to slice them with knives, thus caution is due when attempting to do so. Such as ... slipping on an icy and snowy sidewalk, despite not taking the precaution of wearing something other than tennis shoes; the fault of the person without a cautious approach to winter walking, not that of the nearby homeowners.
I feel for the person, dumping the contents all over her. One would think the safer method of opening a cup would be, say, temporary placement on the dashboard, holding securely with one hand, then gently ratcheting up the edge of the lid until it's released. Not that that's the only method. But its likelihood of success and likelihood of avoiding the self-dumping option is greatly improved.
There are ways to mitigate risks to oneself. Then there's the method she chose. Irrespective of the contents.
ourworldindata.org
