This is another story involving a fire in a car by an e-cig (or charger) that malfunctioned allowing the battery to overcharge:
fox13now(dot)com/2013/09/21/child-burned-after-e-cigarette-explodes-in-car-charger/
I wasn't going to post about this story, but I felt it was worth while for a few reasons. First, I believe we need to keep educating people, both here on ECF and elsewhere, that battery safety is very important. E-cigs made overseas which are sold to the uninformed masses in gas stations and WalMart don't always go through the proper quality assurance, nor do they provide the appropriate safety information.
Second, we know that at some point when the ANTZ run out of medical reasons, they will be focusing on consumer safety issues such as the one reported in this story. We need to prepare ourselves with the counter argument(s), including (but not limited to) other battery operated devices which have injurious malfunctions. We've all heard the stories about cell phones, lap tops, and other consumer products having these issues with various battery configurations over the years. It might be worth while to compile a list of statistics on the percentage of malfunctions of those devices which have caused injury, and how those industries are coping with the issue.
Finally, for U.S. manufacturers of devices, it may be worth while for them to begin thinking about forming a quality standards organization. For U.S. vendors, it could be worth while making sure that they get quality control assurances in writing from the overseas manufacturers, to help protect their customers and their business. For us, as customers, we should consider insisting on getting these quality control assurances to protect ourselves, and to protect the industry on which we rely for THR.
These are just my immediate thoughts upon reading the article, and I welcome any and all comments and criticism.
fox13now(dot)com/2013/09/21/child-burned-after-e-cigarette-explodes-in-car-charger/
I wasn't going to post about this story, but I felt it was worth while for a few reasons. First, I believe we need to keep educating people, both here on ECF and elsewhere, that battery safety is very important. E-cigs made overseas which are sold to the uninformed masses in gas stations and WalMart don't always go through the proper quality assurance, nor do they provide the appropriate safety information.
Second, we know that at some point when the ANTZ run out of medical reasons, they will be focusing on consumer safety issues such as the one reported in this story. We need to prepare ourselves with the counter argument(s), including (but not limited to) other battery operated devices which have injurious malfunctions. We've all heard the stories about cell phones, lap tops, and other consumer products having these issues with various battery configurations over the years. It might be worth while to compile a list of statistics on the percentage of malfunctions of those devices which have caused injury, and how those industries are coping with the issue.
Finally, for U.S. manufacturers of devices, it may be worth while for them to begin thinking about forming a quality standards organization. For U.S. vendors, it could be worth while making sure that they get quality control assurances in writing from the overseas manufacturers, to help protect their customers and their business. For us, as customers, we should consider insisting on getting these quality control assurances to protect ourselves, and to protect the industry on which we rely for THR.
These are just my immediate thoughts upon reading the article, and I welcome any and all comments and criticism.
