Each day, 50 children visit emergency rooms with injuries resulting from stroller accidents.
Strollers and carriers offer the easiest way to carry babies and young infants. Strollers have becoming more compact and lightweight – you can now find parents taking their babies along in the stroller when they go jogging or running. Sadly, stroller accidents are all too common. Each day, 50 children visit emergency rooms with injuries resulting from stroller accidents. By conservative estimates, more than 17,000 each year are injured in stroller accidents. While many injuries are minor, some are as serious as concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
Stroller Accident Injuries
Injuries most often occur when a child tips over in a carrier or falls from a stroller and hits his or her head and face. In many cases, the child falls because they were not properly strapped into the stroller or their carrier was placed on a higher place such as a bed.
According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, between 1990 and 2000, as many as 361,000 children under five years of age sustained head injuries in stroller accidents that were serious enough to require a visit to the emergency room. The study also revealed some startling results related to the difference between TBI diagnosis today and diagnosis 20 years ago. In 1990, only one in five stroller accidents were found to have caused a concussion or brain injury. In 2010, nearly 42 percent of children involved in stroller accidents and 53 percent children in carrier accidents were diagnosed with some kind of brain injury. (Learn more – Defending Your Child’s Rights)
Preventing Stroller and Infant Carrier Accidents
Some caution can go a long way in preventing serious injuries caused by stroller and baby carrier accidents. Here are some simple tips that can help prevent injury to a child when using a baby carrier or a stroller.
- Strap the child properly into the carrier or stroller to keep them securely seated.
- Avoid hanging anything such as bags on the handles of the stroller to avoid a tripping hazard.
- Make sure that the stroller you use for your child is appropriate for his or her size and weight.
- Regularly check for recalls of unsafe strollers and baby carriers.
Based on the finding of this study, there are federal mandatory safety standards now in place. These safety standards, along with the above mentioned safety tips, can help minimize stroller and baby carrier accidents.
Chicago Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney
While many stroller accidents are accidents or a result of caregiver negligence, other accidents are caused by defective or ill-designed products. If you think your child’s stroller accident is a result of a defective product, talk to a Chicago traumatic brain injury lawyer to evaluate your case. Call Willens & Baez at (312) 957-4166.
