Posted on 07/19/2024 5:45:53 PM PDT by CFW
The family of a 76-year-old Kentucky man was awarded over $2 million for his death from second- and third-degree burns suffered in a scalding hot motel shower where water temperatures reached at least 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Court documents from the lawsuit alleged that Alex Chronis checked into the Econo Lodge in Erlanger, Kentucky, on Nov. 18, 2021. The next morning, he turned on the shower and was immediately struck by extremely hot water that knocked him to the floor while the water continued to burn him. The two people who were in the motel with Chronis heard his screams and removed him from the tub.
[snip]
The defense claimed Chronis didn't even stay at the motel, said Blankenship. Attorneys for the defense declined to comment, citing the pending appeal.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
That makes sense.
Depends on where he is cognitively.
That said, there are mixing valves that can be places on the plumbing that automatically regulate the temperature to prevent such occurrences.
Whether the man was staying there or not there is no excuse for water coming out of a faucet at those temperatures.
My condolences.
I think a tree branch fell on him while he was running, actually
“Talk about a story short on information!
What evidence did the hotel have that the victim didn’t stay at the motel.”
LOL! You need to reread the article
“Almost all if not all shower valves have a hot temp limiter.
Mine doesn’t.
“Almost all if not all shower valves have a hot temp limiter.
And the installation instructions are usually in several languages. but if not read....................”
LOL! Apparently you didn’t read your link. That doesn’t limit the temperature, it only limits movement of the handle.
“Until it’s just right.”
You are truly blessed. For me it is always a little too cold, or a little too hot.
“That being written, 150F is too hot for a residential application.”
I am not an expert but wonder if it was a cheap motel that had a large hot water heater that served several rooms with his being the closest to the heater. The ones further away wouldn’t be so hot because of the distance. On average the hot temperature was OK.
In my home shower, I don’t get in, until I have adjusted the water and felt it with my hand.
But I’m weird like that.....
It sounds to me that he got in the shower and then turned the shower on.
Poor fella. That old guy was probably suffering from Biden Disease.
Who were the two people who were in the motel with him and are they the ones who will share the 2 million dollar bucks?
LOL! Apparently you didn’t read your link. That doesn’t limit the temperature, it only limits movement of the handle.
I seem to remember Gov. Abbott saying that a tree or tree limb fell on him.
Yes, different incidents. I was talking about a case in Oregon, don’t remember where, sometime after my cousin began her legal practice in Portland in the late 1970’s. It must not have been a significant case, because I can’t find anything about it online.
I lived at a long-term motel where adjusting the shower temperature was a test of one’s fine motor control. Even once right the temperature would creep up or down after five minutes in and I’d have to back out and readjust it.
So yes, someone of lesser awareness and/or sensitivity can easily become injured by defective plumbing or negligent installation.
On the restaurant running 140 degree water: I had a manager who’d handle near-sizzling plates right out of the washer. Took me a bit to understand he was one of those rare people with genetically low ability to sense pain and I wasn’t the wimp he accused me of being.
Water probably wasn’t at 150 when he first turned it on. He stepped in too soon... those cool pipes can have the cold water pushed through them with the blazing hot and catch you by surprise. What you are used to at home can lull you into thinking the same in a different place.
He is 76 yrs old, no telling how nimble he is, but a 150 blast is a lot of heat on a thin skilled older guy...or a toddler.
The water going to rooms where guests of any age can be, shouldn’t be that hot.
He probably would have been OK or just minimally hurt if he hadn’t also slipped and been scalded for a long time. How long it doesn’t say.
He may have been a guest of those renting the room rather than one on the hotel registry. People do that to avoid extra charges.
I pray that my heart stops before my brain.
Tragic.
The Kohler and Delta shower valves I’ve had in my house are not that sophisticated. All they have is an adjustable stop that keeps you from turning them to full hot, with instructions to set the stop to prevent the water temp from exceeding a specified temp (maybe 110F, I don’t recall). (They do have a pressure balance valve which reduces the hot water flow if the cold water side has a pressure drop).
At my old house the plumber who originally installed the shower valve did not adjust it or adjusted it too low, so the previous occupant “fixed” it by cranking the temp on the water heater way up.
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