LAST EDITED ON Dec-23-04 AT 01:00 PM (EDT)
 
It was 190 degrees upon contact. Her grandson pulled over to the curb after they bought the coffee. Contact with 190 degree liquid causes almost instantaneous damage to the skin. She wasn't consuming the liquid, it spilled on her pants.
Furthermore, when someone- even an 80 y.o. someone- is burned, you reflexively react due to the pain. But even a strong pain reflex will not cannot effectively react within 2 seconds. Had the coffee been at 150 degrees, she would have had around 60 seconds to react and get the coffee off her before her skin was damaged irreparably. If he was stopped and pulled over at the curb, it would have taken her all of about 5 seconds to open the door and shake off the coffee. That's not specualtion, you can test it yourself. But when the damage is instataneous there is no such opportunity. Liebeck's physician testified it was one of the worst scald burns he had ever seen.


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