Window Blinds: A Serious Strangulation Hazard for Young Children
A recent report by the Chicago Tribune reveals a devastating problem: manufacturers of window blinds have ignored demands from federal regulators asking for increased safety standards and to eliminate exposed cords on window blinds and shades that pose a fatal safety risk to young children.
According to U.S. regulators, children can get caught in the cords that hold the blinds together or the cords that are used to pull blinds up and down. In fact, the Federal Safety Agency has said that more than 200 children in the United States have died in the last two decades from being strangled in window cord-related accidents with blinds and shades. Nevertheless, manufacturers, who are responsible for setting their own safety standards, have implemented less-stringent requirements that, according to the Chicago Tribune, advocates say won’t reduce injuries or deaths.
In the summer of 2011, safety regulators from the United States, Canada, and Europe appealed to the window blind industry to raise product safety standards that would reduce the risk of strangulation. However, “the industry is clinging to the status quo and is refusing to address this very dire safety issue,” said Rachel Weintraub, director of product safety with the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America and a member of a task force drafting the new standards.
Safety regulators want the window-covering producers to manufacture blinds without the long cords used to pull blinds up and down; these cords can get wrapped around the necks of children, causing death and serious injuries. In response, manufacturers have said that it’s just not feasible to rid blinds of cords, and that it’s impossible – and unrealistic – to rid the product of all risks.
But that’s not quite right. According to the Chicago Tribune, some companies already make blinds with inaccessible cords. The only issue is that, although that technology exists for some blinds and shades, the cordless technology can add to costs. Asked Bill O’Connor, president of B&W Window Fashions in Waukegan, Illinois, “if it’s a better mousetrap, why isn’t it offered as a standard feature?” His company has developed a Roman shade that doesn’t have accessible cords, and doesn’t cost more to make.
When a company manufactures a product to be marketed to the public, the company is responsible for ensuring the safety of those products. There are three main types of Illinois product liability claims:
1. A manufacturing defect, which generally occurs when an otherwise safe product is assembled carelessly;
2. A design defect, which occurs when, no matter how well the product is put together, its intent or layout is inherently dangerous;
3. A failure to warn, which can occur when a product markets a product that they know to be potentially hazardous, and fails to warn consumers of the latent danger.
In this particular situation, two of these types of liability are incurred. No matter how well the blinds are put together, they pose a risk of strangulation to children. Because these products are inherently dangerous, if a child is harmed or killed by the blinds, the manufacturer could be held legally responsible for the damages caused, and an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit could potentially arise.
Additionally, these dangerous products don’t carry warnings. According to the Chicago Tribune, federal regulators are also proposing that manufacturers require that a warning label on product packaging saying: “for child safety, consider cordless alternatives or products without accessible cords.” Nevertheless, safety advocates say the warning doesn’t explicitly tell parents not to use the products if children are in the home. If parents are unaware of the strangulation hazards posed by the window-coverings and a child is harmed as a result, the parents may be able to bring a Chicago personal injury lawsuit on behalf of the child.
At this point we can hope that regulations passed are stringent enough to protect children, and urge parents to become educated about the safety hazards associated with these products. We are especially proud of our Chicago personal injury attorneys and the changes that their efforts have brought with regard to dangerous products and Illinois product liability law. In many instances, they have not only recovered substantial verdicts and settlements for our clients, but also helped to ensure that the defective product was removed from the market and prevented from causing any further pain, suffering, and damage.
