North Carolina Product Liability Blog : North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer & Attorney : D. Hardison Wood : Toy Safety, Child Restraint, Car Seats

Here we are  again discussing the numerous toy recalls and child items that have occurred over the past few  weeks.  The Family Dollar Store recalled Halloween pails due to  unsafe levels of lead paint. Jo-Ann stores recalled children's toy garden tools also due to the  unsafe levels of lead paint. Fisher Price  has now added the Go Diego Go boats to their recall list, again  due to the  unsafe levels of lead paint.  Dollar Tree stores recalled children's jewelry for....yes....lead paint hazards. Good grief...with the number of children's items that have been placed in the marketplace and have needed to be recalled due  to safety issues... it is just a  matter of time before we start to really  learn the number of children  affected whether through actual toy litigation or other means. But something  needs to be done.  It is nearly impossible to buy a child a toy without worrying if somehow the product you just purchased contains unsafe levels of lead, or  to fear that somehow it was a toy that was actually included in the recall but happened to somehow  miss being pulled from the shelf for some reason.  It is a terrible feeling as a parent to constantly  be  unsure if what you are giving your child could in fact hurt them. Brands that were once "trusted" aren't any longer. It is truly unnerving.

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Recently, I overheard a conversation which reminded me about the importance of this question of car seat versus a booster seat.  As I waited for my daughter during one of her after school activities I heard  a group of mothers and fathers discussing the fact that they were switching their children to the booster seats that use the car's seat belt rather than a five  point harness.  They were discussing that this was a change they needed to make because when they pick their children up from school through the car  pool lane, it is  too difficult to find a  place to park the car, get out and buckle their children into their five point harnessed car seats.  Continue Reading...

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This morning  on the  news I heard about home lead tests not working.  According to  the news report these tests were made so people could conduct their own lead tests at home to help determine if unsafe lead levels were present. However, the report indicated that these products do not  work  properly.  This comes after  all the  numerous reports about unsafe lead amounts in  everything from  children's toys to  lipstick. The US Products Safety Commission  has  a website containing links with information, regulations and  guidance about lead in  consumer products. 

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Continue Reading...

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There have been a number of cases where there has been unexplained acceleration when the drivers have said they had hit the brakes.  

A nationwide investigation by the Channel 4 I-team found complaints about the 2007 Toyota Tacoma that included mysterious acceleration even when drivers said they hit the brakes.

Channel 4 found a growing number of drivers who have had problems with the vehicle, which has prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to start conducting tests on the model.

Continue Reading...

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From toys to cups....
The US Consumer Product  Safety Commission  issued  a  press release today involving children's plastic cups form Starbucks.

Hazard: If the cup is dropped, the colorful face on the cup can break off and leave small parts or sharp exposed edges that can pose a choking or laceration hazard to young children.

Incidents/Injuries: Starbucks has received seven reports of the cups breaking, including two reports in which a child began to choke on a broken piece. No injuries have been reported.

Read the  whole release here. 

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This happened a few weeks ago but wanted to share it anyway as it impacts so a large number of vehicles.  The story says that:

One recall covers about 570,000 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, as well as Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL sport utility vehicles, all built between February 1999 and February 2000.

Not good.  Especially due to the age of the vehicle.  These cars have been on the road for quite some time.  Undoubtedly many people have been injured as a result.

A company spokesman declined to say whether those reports involved injuries or fatalities. But a U.S. government database of vehicle safety complaints from consumers shows 37 reports of air bags failing to deploy in crashes of the recalled vehicles. including 30 injuries and one fatality.

We don't have a good ratio for reports to incidents yet, but generally speaking, it is true that NHTSA's database is not a statistically significant sample of data yet.  So, it is not unfair to guess that reports to incidents are in the neighborhood of 1 to 10 (or far more).

For North Carolinians, this is even more troubling.  Should any of these vehicles cause a fatality, or worse, in North Carolina, the occupants are more than likely going to be barred from holding GM accountable.  NC's rigid Statute of Repose limits claims against manufacturers of defective products to six years from the date of sale.  Hopefully, evidence like this will push our legislature to make that statute much more reasonable.

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As  we know sports injuries are all  too common in  high schools across the nation.  The injuries are not exclusive to the sport, they happen in everything, football, soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey and more.  It is a promising idea to us that there are studies such as the  this one    where there are monitors placed inside the helmets of football players.  These monitors register to a laptop on the sidelines indicating what type of blow to the head the player just received.

The purpose of the high-tech headgear, which uses six strategically placed, spring-loaded accelerometers to wirelessly beam information to a Web-based system on a laptop computer on the sidelines, is to more effectively – and more immediately – detect when blows to players’ heads may result in concussions or more severe brain injuries.

Continue Reading...

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It sounds  like something  out of a scary movie where the toaster is possessed, turns on  by itself and the house catches on fire.  Well, it seems  for approximately 5200 QVC toasters, that is exactly what has been happening.  These toasters have been recalled for ...

Hazard: The toaster can turn on without bread in the slots and ignite items placed on top of it, posing a fire hazard.

Incidents/Injuries: QVC has received information that ten toasters reportedly turned on spontaneously, including one incident of fire damage to kitchen cabinets and two incidents of toaster covers burned. No injuries have been reported.

The entire notice from  the Consumer Protection Safety Commission can be found here.

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