Most Dangerous Products for Kids Include Lightweight Scooters

If you have children in your life that you shop for this holiday season, you may not know which toys are considered the most dangerous products, and which are safe. Scooters, according to one report, are among the most dangerous toys available to children.

Scooters are often collapsible, lightweight, and foot-powered. They were popularized in the early 2000’s by Razor, and are often referred to as “Razor scooters,” although that is a brand name and not a type of scooter.

A study published on Monday, December 1st in Clinical Pediatrics, reported that there were more children injured by toys between 1990 and 2011 when they included data from the scooters. The dangerous products have increased child toy injury rates by 40% in those two decades, the researchers said. For every 10,000 children, 26.9 were injured by toys or defective products for children in 2011, compared to 18.9 in 1990. Injuries from other toys, from plastic food to fake guns, continued at a steady pace.

Falls from scooters were the most common mishap, according to the study.

“These continue to be very common injuries” and sent children to emergency rooms 195,363 times in 2011, up from 121,249 in 1990, says researcher Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that scooter-related injuries held steady between 2009 and 2013. However, injuries from these dangerous products top the list of childrens’ injuries, the agency reported. In fact, in 2013, there were 52,500 injuries in children under the age of 18 related to scooters, and one death.

The Toy Industry Association issued a statement saying that “safety is the toy industry’s top priority every day of the year,” and that toymakers must meet “rigorous U.S. safety standards.”

“We want to see kids be adventuresome. We want to see kids play. But you need to think about the consequences if a toy is not appropriate for them,” said Kate Carr, president of Safe Kids Worldwide, an advocacy group.

The CPSC said that parents should closely supervise children ages 8 and younger if they use a scooter, and all children riding scooters, bicycles, or other active equipment outdoors should wear a helmet to prevent concussions or traumatic brain injuries.

“The increasing number and rate of toy-related injuries to children, especially those associated with ride-on toys, underscore the need for increased efforts to prevent these injuries,” Smith, the study’s senior author and his team, concluded.

The Strom Law Firm Can Help with Injury Cases Related to Dangerous Products or Toys

The most dangerous and defective products, marketing defects, and manufacturing defects have the ability to cause serious injuries, permanent disabilities, and potentially death. Types of defective products may include consumer products, defective automobiles, defective medical products, and dangerous drugs.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or died as a result of a defective product, contact the Strom Law Firm, LLC today for a free consultation with one of our South Carolina Dangerous Product Attorneys and/or a South Carolina wrongful death attorney today to discuss the facts of your case. 803.252.4800