Study Highlights Risks Posed by Strollers, Car Seat Carriers

A recent study published in the medical journal Academic Pediatrics has revealed that an alarming number of children under the age of 5 are harmed each year while placed in the strollers and car seat carriers on which their parents rely.

According to lead author Kristen Roberts from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, approximately 17,000 injuries of this type are sustained annually, a figure which works out to roughly 50 youngsters per day.

Details of stroller safety study

The study utilized data gleaned from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System in order to produce a clearer picture of the dangers faced by children riding in strollers and car carriers. Information collected from incidents occurring from 1990 through 2010 was examined, yielding some important insights into the safety and effectiveness of these categories of children’s products.

Over the course of the years studied, about 361,000 youngsters received medical treatment for harm sustained as a result of tipping or falling strollers and car seat carriers. The majority of affected children experienced injuries to the head and the face, with a notable number of these incidents being quite serious in nature. Over half of the kids injured in stroller-related events were male, with approximately 4 out of 10 being under 12 months of age. Though 40 percent of these events caused little more than soft-tissue injuries including bruises, nearly 25 percent of those impacted sustained traumatic brain injuries or concussions, which in certain cases, can have a lasting impact on a child’s future ability to learn.

Brain injuries related to accidents involving car carriers skyrocketed during the studied period, comprising almost 35 percent of the harm sustained in events of this type. Soft-tissue injuries of a less serious nature made up 48 percent of the complaints stemming from these mishaps. The study also found that 7 percent of those hurt in car carrier accidents ultimately required hospitalization as compared with just 2 percent of those who sustained stroller-related harm.

Baby product recalls

While researchers were encouraged by the fact that overall, the rate of young kids injured during the surveyed time span did substantially decrease, they also warned that the current pace of incidents remains unacceptably high and that action still needs to taken in order to achieve additional improvement. Parents can, however, take heart in the fact that federal safety standards promulgated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have gotten increasingly more stringent in recent years. In addition, several high profile manufacturer recalls of baby products discovered to be hazardous have succeeded over the past several years in alerting parents to risks about which they otherwise may not have been aware.

Injuries caused by defective strollers

Though parents everywhere exercise extreme vigilance and care when choosing the products they will use to transport their young children, there are times when the faith placed in the manufacturers of those items sadly turns out to be misplaced. When a product on the market ultimately reveals dangerous defects in design that cause harm to some of the most vulnerable among us, it is important for families to know that compensation for medical costs, pain and suffering and other categories of loss may be available.

The attorneys at Eisbrouch Marsh are dedicated to providing tireless legal advocacy to those injured by the negligence of others and are prepared to pursue accountability from manufacturers who place unreasonably dangerous products into the stream of commerce. If your child has been injured by a baby stroller or car carrier you believe was defectively made, contact our product liability lawyers at 201-342-5545 to discuss your options.

Resources

1. Academic Pediatrics, Injuries Associated With Strollers and Carriers Among Children in the United States, 1990 to 2010, http://www.academicpedsjnl.net/article/S1876-2859(16)30361-8/abstract
2. Reuters, Two children per hour seen at U.S. ERs for stroller, carrier injuries, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-pediatrics-stroller-injuries-idUSKCN10T29Q
3. CNN, Strollers, car carriers send thousands of kids to ERs, http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/17/health/stroller-carrier-injuries/