No argument that McDonald's should've settled for medical costs when they had the chance. Yes the coffee was too hot but... she put the cup between her legs while driving.

Reasonable care would've prevented this injury and that's my problem with the ridiculous payout.

The law has many failings like this. For example, if you become intoxicated, get in a vehicle and manage to kill someone then the law largely says you were not responsible... because you were intoxicated. The punishment for vehicular manslaughter is WAY lower than other unlawful killings, if it's even tried as that. It's so hard to get vehicle-related felonies convicted that often they'll be settled for lower severity crimes (reckless driving and so forth).

But who got intoxicated in the first place? Who didn't take reasonable steps to avoid getting behind the wheel?

The McDonald's case is the poster child for frivolous litigation because, in spite of the misrepresentation or misunderstanding of the facts, ultimately it boils down to rewarding people for being stupid.