Breaking News: Man buys $600 saw, injures self, sues over lack of features included in $1600 saw.
Although you cannot see it, I am rolling my eyes and sighing dramatically.
Following a recent lawsuit where an injured man won a settlement against Ryobi, a Chicago man is now suing Bosch over injuries inflicted while using a Bosch table saw…
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In the Ryobi suit, the plaintiff claimed that Ryobi was at fault for his injuries and for not including SawStop-like flesh detection technologies in the saw. Somehow the court ignored the fact that the plaintiff purchased a bargain priced saw and removed the blade guard and rip fence before cutting his hand, yet they still awarded him $1.5 million!
Bosch is going to have to defend itself against allegations that they were aware of technological advances such as blade guards and flesh-detection SawStop-styled blade brakes, and that they colluded with their competitors… to keep those alternatives off the market.
If the plaintiff wanted a saw with a flesh-detection blade-brake, why didn’t he buy the SawStop contractor saw instead? His injuries happened in September 2008, months after SawStop introduced its smaller contractor saw, so availability wasn’t an issue. Surely the $1000 different in price between this saw and the Bosch he chose or already owned couldn’t have played a part in his decision.
It is possible that at the time the plaintiff was not aware of the SawStop contractor saw, and that if he had been he would have purchased one which could have prevented his injuries. Then again, we don’t yet know what caused his injuries, and whether they were largely caused by personal carelessness or negligence as in the Ryobi case.
What next, lawsuits against drill press manufacturers for not having safety measures that detect when a user decides not to clamp down a workpiece? Suits against hammer manufacturers for not featuring thumb-detection airbag safety measures?
Seriously… what ever happened to personal responsibility? Granted bargain-priced tools like the Ryobi saw aren’t exactly high quality, but they’re still usually relatively safe. Newer Bosch table saws feature quality blade guards and riving knives, and even older models appear to be quite safe. While accidents happen, injuries can be largely minimized or avoided by using common sense and proper safety accessories such as push blocks and sticks.
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Bosch Tool Corp Sued by Chicago Man via Daily Herald
Ryobi Suit Discussion via Popular Woodworking
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jeff
Hopefully Bosch has better Lawyers than Ryobi did. Maybe this judge will get it right and the precedent will help the appeal on the Ryobi one.
IndyEngineer
This world is getting ridiculous. Nobody wants to take personal responsibility for themselves.
A murderer blames insanity.
A parent blames the schools.
A child blames their parents.
A patient blames the doctor.
A person without health insurance blames the government.
Now, an idiot (or two) blames the saw.
As someone that has worked all their life, I’m getting tired of paying for it all. These kinds of lawsuits cost us all. Responsible people always pay for the irresponsible people.
I know my post is a bit off topic but after reading this, my emotions got the best of me and I needed to vent. My apologies if you are offended.
uthscsaedu
too irritated to make a useful comment….
Blair
Indy,
I’m practically next door to you, and maybe it’s our mid-west sensibilities coming through, but I not only feel the same as you, if possible I am even more adamant about those thoughts. I will add the lawsuits against firearm manufacturers, the suit in Il, against Toro (dismissed I believe for extreme asshatery), and many others where people used tools/equipment for functions they were never intended to perform.
I do hope that common sense in the end will prevail in this, and similar cases, but that is yet to be proven.
IndyEngineer
Blair,
My opinion about personal responsibility goes far beyond what I posted above. However, with respect for ToolGuyd I’ll save that ranting for a different forum.
wantedabiggergarage
What about other options? Did the user look at guided circular saw systems, like the Eurekazone, EZSmart?
While Gass will be brought in, will the owner of the Whirlwind electronic blade guard?
I don’t have an issue with the technology, but the motivation behind both sides.
DA
There’s a bigger issue here in addition to personal responsibility, and that’s corporate responsibility. The individual should be responsible for their safety, but the corporation should also be responsible for the safety of their products. Given that it’s been known that the power tool industry has gone far out of it’s way to avoid implementing these safety features, they have to take the ‘personal responsibility’ that they are setting themselves wide open to these types of lawsuits. As frustrating as it is, that’s often how you have to get some corporations to make decisions that are in the best interest of their customers.