Keep People Out of Wash, Label Warns 古怪的警示标签：不要把人放进洗衣机！
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Don’t clean your kids in the washing machine. Don’t dry your cell phone in the microwave. And be sure not to read the phone book while driving. Those are among the winning entries in this year’s 1)Wacky Warning Label Contest, run by an anti-2)lawsuit group.
The Wacky Warning contest winners were chosen from about 150 nominations received by 3)Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, said the group’s president, Robert B. Dorigo Jones.
The top vote getter was a warning tag from a 4)front-load washing machine.
“DO NOT put any person in this washer,” it read.
Bob Wilkinson, the owner of a coin-operated laundry in 5)Northville Township, a 6)Detroit suburb, won $500 for the submission.
Wilkinson said he always wondered why the washer carried the warning and was told it was because of a suit over a death of someone inside a running washing machine.
“That company’s trying to protect itself against some 7)vicious lawsuit,” said Wilkinson, 66. “Americans are too eager to sue when something goes wrong, regardless of who’s at fault.”
The Center for Justice and Democracy, a group fighting legislation to limit the right to sue, said warning labels play a vital role in protecting the public.
“Often, it is only through lawsuits brought by injured consumers that manufacturers have been forced to place critical warning labels on dangerous products, saving millions of lives and preventing innumerable injuries,” it said in a statement.
Warning labels are important, Dorigo Jones agreed, but he said 8)unwarranted lawsuits lead to labels so 9)bizarre that people ignore them.
“People are more likely to get hurt as lawsuit-driven labels get longer and more 10)absurd,” the contest organizer said.
不要把小孩放进洗衣机里清洗。不要把手机放在微波炉里烘干。切勿在开车时看电话簿。这些是今年古怪警示标签比赛的一部分获奖标签，该比赛是由一个反起诉组织举办的。
密歇根诉讼滥用监察组织的主席罗伯特•B•多里哥•琼斯说，古怪警示标签比赛的优胜者由该组织从150条被提名的警示标签中选出。
获得第一名的是一条贴在前置式洗衣机上的警示标签。
标签上写着：“不要把任何人放到洗衣机里去。”
该标签的提交人鲍勃•威尔金森因此赢得了500美元的奖金。他是底特律郊区诺斯维尔镇一家投币洗衣店的老板。
威尔金森说他一直很纳闷，洗衣机为什么会贴有这样的标签，他得到的答复是以前有过一起人在运行的洗衣机里丧生的诉讼案。
“那家公司是想保护自己，避免受到一些恶意的起诉，”66岁的威尔金森说，“出现问题时，不管责任在谁，美国人总是热衷于起诉。”
公正与民主中心是一个致力于立法限制诉讼权的组织。该组织表示，警示标签在保护公众方面起着至关重要的作用。
该组织的一份声明表示：“常常只有通过受伤的消费者提起的诉讼，生产厂家才会被迫把重要的警示标签标在具有危险性的商品上，挽救数百万人的生命，防止发生无数的受伤事件。”
多里哥•琼斯同意，警示标签确实很重要，但他表示，不必要的诉讼会导致警示标签变得越来越古怪，以致人们反而会忽略那些标签。
比赛的组织者也表示：“由于害怕被起诉，一些厂家会将警示标签越写越长，越写越荒唐，反而更可能让人受伤。”