Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog
Why is New Year’s Eve so damn dangerous? Drunk driving is, of course, the biggest killer tonight. But drunk walking is a close second. Did you know that more people die while walking down the street tonight than any other night of the year? The dangers of dunk driving and drunk walking are easy to avoid; just stay home and celebrate with friends and champagne, right?
Yes, but even if you stay home there is one New Year’s Eve danger you need to avoid tonight. Cork popping. No, not popcorn popping, cork popping. Champagne, a big New Year’s favorite, incorrectly popped, causes serious blinding injuries each year. The pressure in those bubbly bottles can reach 90 pounds per square inch – more than most car tires. The cork can travel at a bullet-like 50 miles per hour as it leaves the bottle, fast enough to rupture eyeballs, detach retinas and take out your eye, or the eye of a fellow reveler. Spending New Year’s Eve on an ophthalmologist’s surgery table is not a good way to bring in the New Year. And guess what — it happens every year. Just ask your local emergency room doc.
But thankfully there’s a surefire (no pun intended) way to slow down the cork’s pace — and thus make it a lot safer. Make sure your champagne bottles are well chilled. A warm bottle’s cork explodes much sooner and with greater force than a cold bottle’s. And here’s some other safety tips for uncorking the bubbly:
Don’t shake the bottle.
Place a towel over the entire top of the bottle and grasp the cork.
Keep the bottle at a 45-degree angle, away from your eyes and others’, while uncorking
Watch this video for a complete explanation of safe cork-popping:
Keep safe!
Mike Bersani
Email me at: bersani@mbk-law.com I’d love to hear from you!
Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
mbk-law.com Central NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels Bersani Kalabanka
1-315-253-3293