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Originally Posted by turbo36
I'm serious when I say this but I'm having a hard time understanding why so many peopple think this is a "Wacky Warning". Would anyone care to elaborate?  |
It's the caption. The large print. Sure, in a small skid steer an uninformed person might lean forward and get wacked by the loader. But, to say "Avoid Death". That's wacky. For those folks who don't believe in a higher power, avoiding death is the primary principle in life. Must we be told to do so? The point is, it is just too non-specific a warning. I'm sure the small print elaborates, but wouldn't "Crush Hazard" have been a better caption? Of course it would. But you know what? "Crush Hazard" makes the legal dept. squirm. It implies that the unit has hazards associated with it, and that just looks bad in court. So what can they put on the warning label that removes any hint that the machine has any dangerous qualities at all.....shazam!: Avoid Death! What great advice and totally legally neutral with no hint of culpability.
So yes. Its wacky.
On the other hand, as a new user I felt like my user manual got so bogged down in absolute legaleez warning minutia that it failed to prepare me for the things I was really ignorant of. I might intuitively guess not to put my hand in the fan belt or that diesel fuel actually burns. But I did not understand how a raised loaded bucket affected tractor stability. And that warning got the same bold type and emphasis that putting my hand in the fan belt did. I had to learn that part. Fortunately without accident.
My point is, when the warnings against things that any moron should know get the same level of emphasis as the real important stuff that you might not intuitively know, its easy to blow the important stuff off along with the 'wacky' stuff.
I didn't need a warning that diesel fuel is flammable at all, and yet I would have appreciated a
chapter on tractor ballast and stability.