For a holiday centered around healthy servings of gratitude, family, food and football, Thanksgiving certainly has its fair share of hidden risks. No, we’re not talking about the much-maligned turkey coma from ingesting too much tryptophan. The personal injury attorneys at Pribanic & Pribanic want you to consider this:
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 416 motorists died in traffic crashes during the 2012 Thanksgiving Holiday weekend.
- And according to that NHTSA data, 60 percent of the passenger-vehicle occupants killed were not wearing their seat belts
- Those same statistics also indicate that 42 percent were killed in crashes that involved a drunk driver who had a blood alcohol content of .08 or more.
- As always, read the owner’s manual so you understand how to both properly set it up and use it.
- Here’s a big one: Make sure your turkey is completely thawed before attempting to fry it – you know, because hot oil and water don’t mix.
- Use the proper amount of oil. If you overfill the fryer, oil may spill out and hit the burner – which could increase the chance for an inferno.
- Never leave the fryer unattended – not to get a beer, not to see a game-winning drive, not ever. This is especially important for folks whose deep fryers don’t have thermostat controls that prevent oil from overheating to the point that it ignites.
- Use appropriate hand protection. The lids and handles of the cooking pot can get dangerously hot, posing severe burn hazards.
- Have an all-purpose fire extinguisher nearby. Please note that you should NEVER use water to extinguish an oil fire – it will only make the flames bigger and more widespread.
- While it can get downright cold in Pittsburgh during the Thanksgiving holiday, do not deep fry your turkey inside your garage, on a porch or deck, or inside your house for obvious reasons.