When you purchase a toy for your child, the last thing that you want is for that toy to injure your child. In some extreme circumstances, the toy can kill your child. Toy manufacturers have an obligation to sell you a safe product and can be held legally responsible if they have put a dangerous product on the market.
Toys can be dangerous for various reasons. One of the common reasons that toys are dangerous is that there are small parts that can break off and pose a choking risk for children. Toys can also place children at risk of suffering injuries in falls caused by those toys. The Consumer Product Safety Commission published a disturbing statistic that there were over a quarter of a million injuries from toys in this country in 2015. From 2015 to 2017 there were 37 deaths in the U.S. from toys.
When you are shopping for Christmas toys, make sure to be mindful of the safety before you give the toy to anyone else whether it is your children or someone else’s. Pay close attention to media reports of toy defects and check the CPSC’s recall lists if you have any doubts. With that in mind, we have put together a list of five of the most dangerous toys that you should not buy for anyone this holiday season.
Nerf Ultra-One
This is one of the more popular toys this year but experts also say that it is one of the most dangerous ones. While we may think that a Nerf dart gun is innocuous because Nerf is made of soft material, this is not true in practice. The reality is that this toy is hazardous because the Nerf gun shoots its projectiles with high velocity and force. This means that even soft materials that are fired with this much force can cause injury when they strike someone. In particular, Nerf Ultra-One poses a hazard to the eyes. The list of injuries caused by this product is frightening. Harms can include scratches and abrasions to the cornea as well as bleeding in the eye. These have the potential to affect a child’s vision. The manufacturer claims that the toys are safe when used properly according to the guidelines. Of course, the issue becomes trusting children to use the toy properly which is not always guaranteed.
Power Rangers Electronix Cheetah Claw
Simply stated, it is dangerous to put a toy in a five-year old’s hands that features hard rigid plastic along with the encouragement to use the toy to take on one’s “enemies.” While the instructions to the toy warn children not to hit others with the toy, the destructive power given to young children with this toy is not always adequately warned against when aggressive children are using the toy unsupervised. The use of a hard plastic toy has the potential to cause eye and facial injuries. The way that the toy is designed, a child can put the claw around their hand and use it to strike others. It is simply impossible to warn off a small child from striking someone else in the face when the toy at the same time is billed as an instrument of violence. While the Electronix Cheetah Claw may not be dangerous to your child who is using the toy, it will certainly be harmful to their playmate and can land you in hor water if your child hurts someone else.
Nickelodeon Frozen Treats Slime
Slime is still one of the enduringly popular toys on the market. However, it is simply irresponsible to sell a toy to a child that looks exactly like frozen ice cream or a smoothie and then tell the child not to eat it. Not only is the food life-like in appearance, but it is also even given an ice cream scent. What is worse is that if a child does ingest this substance, they are at risk for ingesting chemicals that can cause them harm. The slime is even given food-like names such as mint chocolate chip, yet children are expected to know enough not to try to eat it. At best, this toy is simply misleading. At worst, it is a case of dangerous marketing. What compounds the problem is that this toy is sold for use by children above the age of three.
Flybar Pogo Trick Board
The problem with this toy is not so much the lack of safety of the toy itself, but the dangerous impression that is created by the product’s packaging. Pogo products can cause children to fall. However, the picture on the outer packaging of the product shows one child using it without the necessary helmet even though the other two children are using protective headgear. In addition, this product is safest with other protective gear such as pads, yet the packaging does not show the pictured children taking any safeguards, perhaps encouraging children to use this product in an unsafe manner.
Yeti
Yeti is a popular stuffed animal. The stuffed animal comes adorned with long hair. While this makes for a pleasing appearance. The hair can come out of the doll. The problem is that the hair comes off the doll quite easily and it does not take much to pull the hair off. When it does come off, the hair is at risk of being ingested which can cause choking or otherwise harm the child’s stomach. In addition, the child would also be at risk of aspiration from the hair which can cause vomiting and other harms.
Defective toys are subject to the same legal rules as any other harmful or dangerous product. The toymaker can be found legally responsible for your injuries if there was a defect. If you or a loved one have been injured by a defective product, contact the lawyers at Sadaka Associates for a free consultation to discuss your case.
