Dangerous Toys 2016
Every year before the Holiday season, W.A.T.C.H. a non-profit organization whose acronym stands for World Against Toys Causing Harm releases a “10 Worst List”. In order to make the list, toys are rated by their potential to cause serious injury or death to children. In the past, we’ve seen toys that posed risks of causing blindness, burn injuries and even death to children and teenagers.
Unfortunately, the 2016 list is no different. This year’s list includes an elephant stuffed toy marketed to parents of infants that can cause suffocation, a slingshot that is able to shoot slime balls up to 30 feet and cause serious eye and facial injury, a pull toy puppy that has a pull card 21 inches longer than the 12 inch limit and can pose serious risk of strangulation to its target market. For a complete list, visit http://toysafety.org/portfolio_category/2016-10-worst-toys/.
So why do toy manufacturers continue to produce toys that violate safety recommendations and endanger children? Well, it’s a game of odds. Chances are slim that a child will get hurt seriously enough to cause harm that would constitute a recall or a civil lawsuit. Even if a company is sued, the profit received from the sales of the dangerous product often surpasses any penalties or settlements paid out because of the harm that toy has called. Sounds sensible??? But what if your child or grandchild is the 1 in 500 that is killed by the dangerous product?
What Can Parents Do to Keep Kids Safe
When doing holiday shopping for your children or your grandchildren this year, keep these toy buying tips in mind:
- Check out the label and look for age range recommendations. Just because your nephew seems really smart and advanced for his age, that doesn’t mean that a toy recommended for an 8 year old will be safe him to play with if he’s just 3. Age recommendations are determined by safety factors, not intelligence.
- To prevent choking on small parts, buy toys that are larger than the child’s mouth.
- Take slingshots, Nerf guns and other toys that propel small objects with great force off of the list. They can cause serious permanent eye injury.
- Science kits, electrical kits, and chemistry sets should only purchased for older children and be used with close adult supervision.
- If the toy is made from plastic, make sure that it is sturdy. If it is broken, it can have razor sharp edges that can cause lacerations.
- Stay away from loud toys. Some toys are so loud that they can cause permanent hearing loss.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury from a dangerous or defective product, call Paul Thomson of The Thomson Law Firm in Roanoke, VA today. We welcome your call and are here to answer questions about your potential product liability case.
