South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog
Parents beware! Play yards are serving up some serious risks for accidents, thereby endangering your young ones.
Officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced new safety efforts to address the dangers of play yards. There were far too many accidents happening as a result of the faulty design of these devices.
A play yard is a framed enclosure for your child. It has a sturdy floor and either fabric or mesh walls on each side. It can be easily folded down to travel or for storage. Now, new safety standards are going to better protect young occupants. Just make sure you’re aware of these standards and aware of other ways you can keep your child safe. Don’t rely on others and product design to do this for you.
Our Fort Lauderdale child injury attorneys understand that we purchase our child’s cribs, play yards and toys and rely on the manufacturer to ensure that they’re safe. Unfortunately, officials with the CPSC oftentimes find that these products are dangerous and can seriously harm young occupants. Sometimes, these defects are pointed out too late and children are injured or killed.
New Safety Standards for Child’s Play Yards:
-The side rails on these devices have to be more reliable. They can no longer create that sharp V shape when they’re folded down. This V shape is what serves up those serious strangulation dangers for small children.
-The corner brackets have to be stronger. The stronger design of these brackets it to help stop them from breaking and exposing children to sharp edges. These edges can cause laceration hazards and the weak brackets can also increase the risks of a side -rail collapse.
-The mattresses have to be sturdier and their attachments do, too. Officials don’t want children getting trapped under the mattress.
All of these standards were passed as a part of the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act (also known as Danny’s Law). Danny was a child who was killed in a play yard in Chicago back in 1998. He was napping when the play yard collapsed and suffocated him. Officials made this act in honor of him and his family.
The truth of the matter is that these play yards, and even cribs, can be extremely dangerous to children. Each year, officials estimate that about 700 kids under the age of 1 are killed just from cushions and pillows in a baby’s sleep area.
The safest place for your child is in a crib or a play yard that meets CPSC’s safety standards. You also want to make sure that you’re not adding to the risks though. Never put pillows, blankets or stuffed animals. Even these fluffy bundles of comfort can serve as suffocation hazards to infants and toddlers.
If you or your child has been injured in an accident, contact Freeman, Mallard, Sharp & Gonzalez. Call us at 1-800-561-7777 for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your rights.
More Blog Entries:
South Florida Swimming Pool Safety: Infant’s Near-Drowning Highlights Winter Risks, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, February 7, 2013
Golf Cart Accident involving Rubio’s Daughter Highlights Risks, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, November 2, 2012