Products that are designed for children must meet very high safety standards because of the serious risk of injuries faced by young kids. Unfortunately, strollers may not be as safe as many parents expect them to be. In fact, according to Live Science, strollers can be dangerous enough to send thousands of children to the hospital.
When there is a problem with a stroller and a child gets hurt, it becomes important to determine if the child was harmed due to a design defect, a failure of the manufacturer to provide warning of risks or any issue with the product that contributed to the injury.
A product manufacturer could be held liable for losses caused by a problem product (even absent any evidence of negligence) if the injury happened because of the product while it was being used for its intended purpose. Parents are encouraged to speak with a New Jersey personal injury attorney to determine if they can take legal action after their child has been injured in a stroller accident.
Stroller Accidents Are Putting Young Children at Risk
Live Science indicates that approximately two children every hour visit U.S. emergency rooms after experiencing injuries from a stroller or infant carrier. Children age five and under are at the greatest risk. Between 1990 and 2010, more than 360,000 children within this age group were hurt in a stroller or a carrier and had to be taken to the hospital.
During the time period in which the number of incidents involving stroller-related ER visits were studied, there was a troubling rise in situations where brain injuries and concussions happened to children. In fact, a significant number of the injuries that sent kids to the ER were brain injuries, as brain injuries accounted for 25 percent of injuries in strollers and 35 percent of injuries in carriers. Other common injuries included soft tissue injuries.
Since traumatic brain injury (TBI) can have lasting consequences and the permanent impact of a TBI on the developing brain is not yet fully understood, many are concerned that the rise in brain injuries means that many kids will have long-term cognitive limitations.
The primary reasons for the injuries is because children fell out of the carrier or the stroller, or the stroller or carrier tipped over when the child was inside of it. About two-thirds of all injuries happened as a result of the child falling out of the product.
In some cases, these incidents occurred due to problems with the products themselves, such as defective design or construction in carriers or strollers or failure to provide appropriate information to parents about product use or product risk.
Parents need to understand when stroller accidents can result in liability. An attorney at Helmer, Conley, and Kasselman, P.A. can review the circumstances surrounding the child's injury and provide guidance to parents on whether to make a claim for compensation. Contact an attorney as soon as your child is hurt so you can get the evidence you need and take appropriate steps to hold the stroller manufacturer accountable.
