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Where has common sense gone???

11K views 33 replies 21 participants last post by  aczlan 
#1 ·
So today we are doing spring clean up(late spring here in north central wi) at 2 properties accrost from the big insurance co. I'm running our Toro groundsmaster 345 with a 20 cu ft peco bagger right over the rear hood(3" clearance) thats a 50" wide box so no rear visibility, and it has a 10hp fan motor that blows the air right out the top edge of that box @ 220 mph. For that reason we have a 110db back up alarm. With the 72" dethatcher it takes a bit of space to turn around.
Im turning around by the intersection, light pole there means back up 3' and I move maybe 1 ft backwards and hear BANG on the aluminum box! Here it's 4 20 something women, right behind the Toro with their hair and dresses getting blown by the wind from the bagger, the bang was a purse hitting the box and 4 peaved girls screaming how I almost ran them over and when I pointed out the 3' wide by 1' tall "Stay back min 30 ft" in bright reflective red on the back of the box they left.
Are people so ignorant about whats going on around them or is it worse than that?
 
#2 ·
The courts reward stupid behavior. They'd look at your warning sticker as an admission that you were operating a dangerous piece of equipment.

BTW I've had several of those 300 series left side discharge 72" mowers. And a Peco vac system. And a mower with that 45hp Ford commercial engine. But never all in the same package. I'll bet you collect a huge amount of clippings off of that 72" deck!

Yeah, I agree people are stupid. I watch them getting off work at a factory I mow. Some will freeze as soon as they hit the door if I'm working anywhere on the property. Others will walk so close to the mowers' deck it scares me!

I think instead of a warning sticker we need stickers that say NO INSURANCE!
 
#3 ·
Either common sense is dead and gone, or people have no sense of eminent danger. In years past I seldom had to actually ask people to get their kids a safe distance from my mowers (like go inside or leave for 10 minutes). Yesterday I had to explain to a neighbor that if I would hate to hit something in the yard and injure or kill one of her kids. At first she thought I was kidding apparently. When I asked again if they would mind giving us a little space to work she got a bit miffed (she did take the kids inside).
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#9 ·
Its not only a lack of common sense, its the fact that many people just dont give a Sh**. They think they are the only ones that matter and they couldnt be bothered to move or take a different route, theyd rather make you move or wait
 
#12 ·
Speaking of no common sense, I heard that some lady bought coffee from a McDonalds drive-thru, drove off with the cup held between her knees, spilled the coffee all over her legs (thus burning herself), and then sued McDonalds because the coffee was hot. And won. Ridiculous
If it makes you feel any better our "safety" gas cans are the result of similar lawsuits.

And she won because their coffee is brewed at 180 degrees versus the more standard 150, and it wasn't her legs she burned but her mouth and we are talking 1st and 2nd degree burns requiring hospitalization.

It's not just her.

It's all over America.
 
#14 ·
If it makes you feel any better our "safety" gas cans are the result of similar lawsuits.

And she won because their coffee is brewed at 180 degrees versus the more standard 150, and it wasn't her legs she burned but her mouth and we are talking 1st and 2nd degree burns requiring hospitalization.

It's not just her.

It's all over America.
Incorrect. 3rd degree burns to her legs, 6% of her body. She was hospitalized over a week and required skin grafts.
 
#17 ·
Actually, she sued McDonalds because the coffee was 190 degrees when the industry standard is 140 degrees. They had faulty equipment that caused her to get 3rd degree burns in a matter of 2 seconds.
I worked for Mcdonalds for over 17 years and the standard serving temp was 190%. If I brew a coffee at home it is always hotter the 140%. I would not ever set a cup between my legs.
 
#19 ·
It doesn't matter what you have printed, it's still your responsibility to maintain a line of sight when backing up.
Yes, however there is no way to see behind the machine without getting off of it. I mentioned what happened to the customer we did clean up at today(litigation attorney ) and after looking the toro on his yard he felt that with the 110 db back up alarm and the stay back/away on the back it would be very difficult for anyone to say the were injured by our negligence around any side of this rather load red and silver mower that is almost 6 ' tall, more than 6.5 ft wide machine which he could hear in his house over his tv every time it backed up.
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#20 ·
Yes, however there is no way to see behind the machine without getting off of it. I mentioned what happened to the customer we did clean up at today(litigation attorney ) and after looking the toro on his yard he felt that with the 110 db back up alarm and the stay back/away on the back it would be very difficult for anyone to say the were injured by our negligence around any side of this rather load red and silver mower that is almost 6 ' tall, more than 6.5 ft wide machine which he could hear in his house over his tv every time it backed up.
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Perhaps figure out a way to mount a rear view mirror system? or even a rear facing camera.
 
#22 ·
#23 ·
every gas can i've ever used in my life was made of plastic. i use the no spill cans now.

noone hardly uses those safety cans because they cost so much. i see hundreds of trucks on the highway every day with plastic cans.

it's probably just one of those laws they dont' enforce like many others out there.
 
#24 ·
Most folks these day are living on auto pilot, little though goes into daily life. Yesterday morning I was sweeping a parking lot at 5 am ( normally I don't work Sundays) it is generally quite on a Sunday morning. I rolled ahead with my skid steer and put the whisker broom down shoulder check and a cars goes whizzing by no concern that I might not see them. I call them Zombies no brains.
 
#25 ·
I am a younger guy and I have have noticed that especially people my age are becoming more and more oblivious to what is going on around them. I feel it is a combination of parenting, technology, and schooling. Parents are raising kids by spoiling them, teaching them to be reliant on technology, and letting way to much off the hook. School is the exact same way. More and more classes are becoming online classes and more and more teachers/professors are not doing their job properly, and I can say this from experience because I am in college at the moment. Both school and parents in general (not all cases) have stopped teaching kids how to fix things, build things, and survive in general. They are teaching us to provide one service for an income and when something breaks pay someone else to fix it. I personally think that I myself would be better off if this was not the case and I would bet a lot of other people my age would agree.
(In short) Yes people are lacking common sense but it is because of influencing factors.
 
#26 ·
in general...i stop all work when anyone is within 30 yards or so from me.

high traffic areas i avoid - or mow at times when they are not high traffic.

what the attorney would say to you is 'where is your common sense?....did these ninja women sneak up on you? you are guilty of negligent homicide....now give me all of your money'

that sign of "stay back...." is a basic deterrent for those too dumb to know that it is worthless. anyone that knows this will be calling their attorney faster than you can point at the sign.

that sign in the state of texas is really just a magnet for lawsuit leeches.
 
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