But before you guffaw too heartily at Sakic, consider the warnings of a man known as WhiteCoat, whose post headlined "Why I Prefer to Use a Shovel" outlines the hideous dangers of snowblowers -- a point illustrated by the X-ray seen here. Yes, a snowblower took off the tips of this guy's first two fingers.
Want to avoid a similar fate without retiring your expensive contraption? Try following WhiteCoat's safety tips, accessible after the jump. -- Michael Roberts
"Why I Prefer to Use a Shovel"You may not want to read this if you're eating.
I prefer shoveling snow because it doesn't cause pollution and it gives you an aerobic workout to boot. But that isn't all. I've also developed a healthy respect for what a snowblower can do to human appendages. I've seen a few too many mangled hands from snowblowers in my career.
This unfortunate gentleman was cleaning ice out of a jammed snowblower with his hand when all of a sudden the ice broke free and the snowblower grabbed his glove ... and the tips of two fingers. The tips of his index and middle fingers are no longer present on this x-ray of his hand.
Basic snowblower safety:
Don't leave a snowblower running unattended.
Turn a snowblower off if you're going to try to clean it. Then use a broom handle or a stick - not your hands.
Keep your hands and feet away from the spinning blades. Blades can keep spinning several seconds after the machine has been turned off.
Watch where the chute is pointing - snowblowers can turn rocks or pieces of wood into missiles.
Don't let kids run snowblowers. They aren't toys.
By the way, they came in with the tip of one of this poor guy's fingers a little while later - tendon and muscle still attached.
In the words of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus: Hey ... lets be careful out there!
