Auto Battery Safety Month
|
|
David Lundgren of Blaine, Minn., will never forget the time he witnessed a car battery explode directly in front of his eyes 25 years ago. It all happened because he didn’t know how to properly jump-start a vehicle. Lundgren was lucky; he wasn’t injured. However, nearly 6,000 motorists each year suffer serious eye injuries or even blindness from working around batteries. In an effort to prevent such injuries this winter, the Sight & Hearing Association is reminding motorists to follow proper jump-starting procedures. To help make this important task easier, free jump-start safety stickers are available from the Sight & Hearing Association and Phillips Eye Institute, a specialty hospital of the Allina Health System. These fluorescent self-stick guides It’s a lesson Lundgren, now 82, admits all Minnesotans should know. I didn’t realize how dangerous it was, he said. A neighbor and I didn’t put the negative cable on the frame of the car [to ground it]. It blew the top of the battery right off. Whether dead or not, the batteries can release an explosive hydrogen gas; all it takes is a small spark to ignite the gas and cause an explosion. Most injuries, said Dr. Charles Barer, an ophthalmologist with Eye Physicians & Surgeons and vice president of SHA’s board of directors, are burns to the cornea of the eye caused by battery acid, or cuts to the eye caused by flying battery fragments. Anyone wanting a free jump-start safety sticker should call Medformation (a service available 24 hours-a-day) at 697-3333 or 800/877-7878, or the Sight & Hearing Association at 800/992-0424.
|
|
|