Overlawyered.com – the invaluable reporter of trial lawyer abuse – has a post on a lawsuit filed against John Deere and Home Depot. It seems a father was cutting his grass one day with a John Deere riding lawn mower when he carelessly threw the machine into reverse and accidentally struck his three-year-old son, who tragically suffered serious injuries to his right leg.

As everyone knows, the rotating blades on any lawn mower can be hazardous, which is why the John Deere’s owner’s manual contained multiple, clear, explicit warnings about the potential dangers. Among the warnings ignored by the father:

DANGER: ROTATING BLADES CUT OFF ARMS AND LEGS
Do not mow when children or others are around.
Do not mow in reverse.
Look down and behind before and while backing.
CAUTION: Avoid injury! Rotating blades are dangerous. Children or bystanders may be injured by runover and rotating blades.
Before backing up, carefully check the area around the machine.
NOTE: Backing up while the mower is engaged is strongly discouraged.

Among the claims filed in the lawsuit was the incredible assertion that John Deere failed to warn owners about the potential dangers. Cases like this chip away at the notion that individuals are responsible for their actions – even careless actions that result in tragic injuries to loves ones. They also inspire manufacturers to guard against lawsuits by slapping warnings labels on every conceivable product covering every imaginable eventuality – a phenomenon chronicled by Bob Dorigo Jones of Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch (MLAW) in his best-selling book, “Remove Child Before Folding: The 101 Stupidest, Silliest and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever.”It’s easy to snicker at some of these warning labels – like the one found on an iron-on T shirt transfer that warns: “Do not iron while wearing shirt” – but Dorigo Jones has a serious point. The proliferation of useless warnings dulls people to the warnings that truly must be heeded – such as the real dangers of carelessly operating machines like riding lawn mowers. Lawyers like to argue that their cases make products safer, but the truth is that restoring the notion of personal responsibility to our legal system would go a lot farther in preventing tragic accidents like this one than yet another lawsuit.