Originally Posted by
ScottCommutes
After Catherine O'Leary's cow "allegedly" kicked over a candle and started the great Chicago fire of 1871, I don't believe that the city increased regulation of candles, or cows.
To this day, no one really knows who to blame for that fire. At the end of the day, you never know what is going on in your neighbor's barn.
that's a funny example. chicago's building/fire codes were completely revamped after the 1871 fire, requiring much more masonry and eventually fireproofed steel construction. it was such a significant shift that many communities and businesses were priced out of the reconstruction, or simply disobeyed the rules and got illegal wood buildings built anyway.
so, your example is actually an example of exactly what is happening here - regardless of the actual fault (cow, kitchen fire, extension cord, cheap battery, poorly maintained wiring, etc) new regulations are targeted at the most feasible place to reduce risk. in this case, it's the electric devices themselves. in chicago, it was the buildings, since outlawing cooking or accidents/mistakes was not really feasible.