DETROIT, Mich. — You would think some things are very obvious. When it comes to warning labels, that's not always the case.Bob Wilkinson, a coin laundry owner in Northville Township, a Detroit, Mich., suburb, recently won $500 in a contest for having the "wackiest" warning displayed at his store. His winning entry was a warning tag used on one of his front loaders telling people not to put any person in the washer.The Wacky Warning contest winners were selected by the Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch. The group picked five finalists, and callers to a radio show chose the winner.The tag actually read: "Do not put any person in this washer."Second place went to a warning on a watercraft: "Never use a lit match or open flame to check fuel level." Other top warnings included "Do not iron" (for a lottery ticket); "Don't try to dry your phone in a microwave oven" (for a cell phone); and "Please do not use this directory while operating a moving vehicle" (for a telephone directory).Wilkinson, who was unsure why his Huebsch triple-loader had the label, was told it was because of a suit over a death of someone inside a running washer. Wilkinson did say that in the past some children had climbed into one of his dryers or washers, but the machine wasn't turned on.An Alliance Laundry Systems spokesperson said there have been lawsuits filed against companies — not Alliance — after small children got into coin-operated laundry equipment and an older child started the machine.
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