Re:Proposed US Rule for Portable Generators Will Save Thousa...
by taylodl on Friday September 08, 2023 @10:03AM
(#37433636)
From the article's first paragraph:
Over 1,300 people died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by portable generators between 2004 and 2021 alone. [1] Another 77,000 people were hurt in that same period. Worse yet, a quarter of all fatal incidents associated with portable generators involve multiple deaths at once, some involving entire families.[2]
Now let's run those numbers:
(2021-2004)*1000000000/(1300+77000) = 217,114
For this US rule to save $1B/yr then each incident must cost $217,114 for deaths and related injuries. I'm not buying it.
Obviously this rule is a Good Thing - I'm not disputing that and I'm not disputing it should be adopted. I'm disputing this yellow journalism claim that adopting it is going to save us $1 billion per year. Even with the hight cost of medical care in the US it's easy to see this isn't the case.
Over 1,300 people died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by portable generators between 2004 and 2021 alone. [1] Another 77,000 people were hurt in that same period. Worse yet, a quarter of all fatal incidents associated with portable generators involve multiple deaths at once, some involving entire families.[2]
Now let's run those numbers:
(2021-2004)*1000000000/(1300+77000) = 217,114
For this US rule to save $1B/yr then each incident must cost $217,114 for deaths and related injuries. I'm not buying it.
Obviously this rule is a Good Thing - I'm not disputing that and I'm not disputing it should be adopted. I'm disputing this yellow journalism claim that adopting it is going to save us $1 billion per year. Even with the hight cost of medical care in the US it's easy to see this isn't the case.