I'm losing my patience with the lack of personal responsibility among coffee drinkers (a gross generalization, I realize). It would seem that if you spill hot coffee on yourself, there is no one to blame but the purveyor of the coffee. Certainly not yourself.
So now there is a new coffee related lawsuit from someone who burned herself with coffee.
“She just pulled out of Tim Horton's and started to drink the coffee through the lid, and it spilled all over her …… She was burned severely because the coffee was too hot.”
I don't drink the evil bean beverage myself. However, I do realize that it is hot and isn't likely something you should be drinking WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING!! This comes from personal experience – the unfortunate incident with a very hot Hazelnut Latte from Starbucks.
To be fair, the lawsuit points out that there was some kind of defect in the lid of the cup, and that also had some hand in the coffee dam bursting all over her. If she wasn't so carefully and diligently observing the road for hazards while driving wouldn't she have noticed the defective beverage receptacle?
I've always heard complaints about COLD coffee, and not the other way around. The only people who I've heard about coffee being too hot are those who dump it in their lap when they are driving. Usually we hear about these things on the news when a lawsuit is the result of someone's coffee mismanagement. Such reports usually cite the infamous McDonald's coffee lawsuit in which events transpired much as they did above. The McDonald's incident resulted in a 3 million dollar award, which was later decreased to (only) $600,000 (US). I wonder how many people started dumping hot coffee in their laps on purpose after this point?
As someone who has dumped large numbers of beverages (both cold and hot) in their lap while driving, am I out of line to think that the blame for any resulting burns or discomfort lies with ME? Hmmm…. I guess I've been missing out on all kinds of financial windfalls!
I was at 7-11 the other day and got that horrific “brain freeze” kind of headache from a Slurpee. I'm kind of wondering if 7-11 hasn't been negligent in giving out a beverage (most likely targeted towards the CHILDREN) that is too COLD. Maybe my resulting pain and mental anguish at having a “brain freeze” headache should result in some kind of financial compensation for my hardships? Anyone know a lawyer?