I bought pretzels from the vending machine for lunch today, and the bag got hung up in the machine. I hit the machine a few times, and could not dislodge it. I bought a second bag, and got both of them -- two bags for twice the price.I remarked that some people die each year from vending machines falling on them.
Coworker Collin said, "What a good blog post," and so here it is.
Strange as it seems vending machine deaths are real, and not urban myths.
One to three people die in America due to falling vending machines ( according to numbers for 1978-1995 from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.) The Army published data of 15 cases in JAMA in 1988 including three resulting in deaths.
There are fewer deaths recently because vending machines are usually bolted to the wall or the floor.
A consulting company did an animation of a Dr. Pepper Machine falling and crushing a 14 year old boy, seemingly as part of an insurance company investigation. This is a RealPlayer animation, and it is fairly creepy.
Wise of you to put more money in the machine and back away slowly than to assault the monster and risk retaliation!
ReplyDeleteI recall a Consumer Reports that one in ten customers gets their hand stuck inside a vending machine reaching for the purchased products.
If they were reaching for Oreos, one could say they were caught with their hands in the cookie jar! Crumby joke!
Thanks Doug. It took a long time to realize this post was from you.
ReplyDeleteNice blog!But some time people is also responsible for these type of accidents.
ReplyDeleteVending Machines