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Shopping Cart Injury

Parents on a daily basis put their children in shopping cart seats while shopping at the drugstore or grocery shopping without thinking there is any risk. An estimated 24,000 children were treated in hospitals for shopping cart-related injuries in 2005 that included bruises, bumps and fatalities. On August 7, 2006, many of the top pediatricians throughout the United States warned parents against putting children in shopping carts.

Falls accounted for an estimated 58% of children's shopping-cart-related injuries. Shopping carts tipped over themselves an additional 26% of cases, typically injuring children under 2 and often when an older sibling was climbing on or standing in the cart. Other children were hurt when they became trapped in a cart, fell while riding on the outside of a cart or were run over by a cart. The majority of shopping carts are approximately four feet off the ground.

Many shopping cart accidents that result in injuries or death occur when a child reaches for an item on a shelf, often when a parent is not paying attention. An additional Canadian study determined that preschoolers could be out of the shopping cart seat in three seconds. ABC News' 20/20 investigation found that with even the slightest push a cart could come crashing to the ground. Dr. Gary Smith of Columbus Children's Hospital said carts that keep children low to the ground and less at risk could prevent injuries. He also found that when stores had greeters who remind parents how to secure their children in the carts safely, the number of parents who did so tripled.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stated that when the agency established the standards for shopping carts they looked into the issue of stability and concluded that the overwhelming injuries that took place were not caused by stability issues, but from falling out or falling off the cart. As a result, the CPSC shifted their focus on warning labels on the carts and the seat belt requirements.

If your child fell out of a shopping cart and was seriously injured, please fill out the form at the right for a free case evaluation by a qualified products liabilty attorney.