Yow! Some very harsh and discompassionate responses from those familiar with the challenges of survival. I hope your own karma is in order...

Maybe he didn't know that there is 80 litre of water in the Toyota.

I know how desolate the outback roads are in Australia, a week not seeing a vehicle is not uncommon.

I agree about having the rental company giving a brochure and verbal instructions of what to do when the vehicle breaks down.

LOL!
I like the one on my prescription of sleeping pills: "Warning, may cause drowsiness."

Like I said, let's discuss it.
There are at least two sides to every story. The details which you point out, like all the footage of the Rodney King fiasco, have not been viewed by everyone.
In the short description, it sounded foolish, with the additional information, there seems to be reason for questions.
Thanks for the input.

I have to say that if most people from this group, "ETS", ran a business like that, each of us would take it upon ourselves to make sure the renters of our vehicles were familiar with what we supplied for survival, as well as having them file a trip (flight) plan. It would allow us to feel we "prepared" as best we could, since part of the preparation was under our control. At least that is my assumption as legitimate business owners with a concern for survival. But perhaps not.

How many EMTs, Paramedics, Fire Fighters, Law Enforcement Officers, etc, have been involved in a situation that turned out to be the worst case scenario, not for lack of trying, and felt justified in saying "I did the best I could." I hope the business owner in this situation can say the same. I know, they are different scenarios, but the idea is "did we do the best we could".

If nothing else, we have learned from this tragedy.

Or the multiple variations on "other side up" printed on the bottom or "this side down" printed in the same location. If these warnings are truely critical someone will be injured before having the opportunity to read them.

As an Australian, I can honestly say putting brochures in the car or even some sort of survival kit would makes us more culpable to a lawsuit than not having them.
The brochure itself would be a major drama as we would have to cover many languages and make it absolutley idiot proof.
The downside is we are learning from American tourists that visit here a lot about civil lawsuits.
If you drown its the beach, town, mayor or lifegaurds fault.
If you drive on the wrong side of the road its our fault cause we don't have the same rules as Americans do etc etc.
I'm not yank bashing just giving a rough example of how crazy things can get.
I believe Britz hire is working on safety gear for all their 4WD campers as German tourists have a nasty habit of dying in various ways! It is quite crazy to see how people carry on in outback Australia. And thats excluding all the crazy East coast Australians that get into difficulty as well.
I'm sure similar things happen in the US as well.
The solution, which is education is one that costs money, money that some business can't or won't spend.
My rant.

RE McD's coffee being "too hot"

OK, The lawyers say the coffee should be at 155 degs. I have a question for you. Do you make coffee at home? Tea? Ever measure the temperature? (I have). It's a heck of a lot closer to the 185 degs of McDs than the 140-150 of "other" places - in fact, with Tea, your putting 212 deg water into the cup, right?

If you've JUST brewed the coffee at home (and it has not cooled on the warming plate) it's darned close to 200 degrees. Use a french press, or a perk pot, it is OVER 200 degs

lol, my favourite is "wear goggles whilst using this hammer"

Bushman

Everything you say makes perfect sense. The question in my mind, lawyers, gypsies, tramps and thieves aside is, could someone in this business do SOMETHING to help prepare for an incident that might help save a life? If I owned the business, I would hope that I would help to prepare in some way.
In the hands of the right lawyer, any preparation no matter how good, could probably be challenged and proven inadequate.

Is it better to be sued for selling cold coffee than it is to be sued for selling boiling coffee with no instructions or training?

"Common sense goes out the window when lawyers enter a room, or it is taken to such an extreme that it is no longer common."