Now that Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is in full swing, it is more important than ever for parents, guardians, and other family members and friends to be aware of dangerous toys that could result in child injuries. While we should not have to worry about product defects when we visit a retail store in San Marcos or elsewhere in San Diego County to shop for Christmas or Hanukkah gifts for kids, it is necessary to know that a variety of children’s products may pose injury risks. According to a recent report from CBS News, the consumer safety group World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH) has just released its 2019 list of toys that could injure kids.

WATCH List of 2019 Hazardous Toys

Just because a product poses an injury risk does not necessarily mean it will be subject to a recall. As such, it is important to know about recalled children’s products in addition to toys that have not been recalled but could cause injuries. Often, children’s products are not recalled until someone gets hurt. Many product recalls occur as a result of a marketing error, or a failure to warn. For example, if a toy maker fails to warn consumers about certain risks associated with using a product (or even fails to warn about risks associated with using the product in an improper but foreseeable manner), anyone who is injured may be able to file a product defect claim.

What are some of the toys that could be dangerous or defective this holiday season? The WATCH list includes the following:

• Nerf Ultra One, which is a dart gun that shoots darts with enough force that it could result in eye injuries;
• Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog, which has quills that could result in a choking incident;
• Bunchems Bunch’n Build, which has plastic parts that could get caught in a child’s hair;
• Yeti, which has hair that can come detached and could result in a choking injury;
• Nickelodeon Frozen Treats Slime, which is similar enough to edible foods that a child could ingest it and sustain an injury from the harmful chemicals;
• Anstoy Electric Toy Gun, which could be mistaken for a deadly weapon;
• Diecast School Bus, which can pose a choking risk to young children;
• Pogo Trick Board, which can result in fall-related injuries and traumatic brain injury;
• Power Rangers Electronic Cheetah Claw, which could be used as a weapon; and
• Viga Pull Along Caterpillar, which has long cords of about 24 inches that could result in strangulation.

Learning More About Toy Product Injuries

Toys cause injuries to consumers more often than you might think. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) provides some of the following statistics:

• 13 toy-related deaths happened in 2017 involving kids under the age of 15;
• Riding toys are responsible for more than 50 percent of child deaths;
• More than 250,000 toy-related injuries requiring treatment in an emergency department occur every year;
• About 44% of all toy-related injuries result in injuries to the head and face;
• Almost 40%of all toy-related injuries treatment in emergency departments involved lacerations, contusions, or abrasions;
• Nearly 75% of toy-related nonfatal injuries happen to kids under the age of 15; and
• Approximately 95% of patients with toy injuries are treated and released from the hospital.

Contact a Product Defect Lawyer in San Marcos

In general, when a person sustains an injury as a result of a defective product, it may be possible to file a product liability claim. An experienced San Marcos product defect attorney at our firm can speak with you today about your case. Contact the Walton Law Firm for more information.

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Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, many parents in Carlsbad and throughout San Diego County are beginning to think about holiday gifts for children. With considerations for children’s toys often come concerns about toy safety, product defects, and the risks of child injury. According to a recent article in WebMD.com, a safety group has just released its “annual dangerous toys” list just in time for the holiday season. What toys should parents avoid when purchasing gifts for young children?

WATCH Releases List of Dangerous Toys

Each year, World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH), a consumer watchdog group, releases a list of dangerous toys. As WATCH emphasizes, “since January 2015 there have been recalls involving more than 800,000 individual products, including 500,000 this year alone.” As such, it is important to be careful when selecting toys for children. Just because a toy says that it is intended for a child of a certain age group does not mean that the product is free of safety defects.

As WATCH points out, “every three minutes a child is treated in a U.S. emergency room for a toy-related injury.” Over the last two years, nearly 20 children’s toys have been implicated in recalls related to safety defects. In many cases, visits to emergency departments result from preventable injuries caused by defective children’s products. Not all children’s products that cause injuries are defective, but numerous toys that may have safety defects are not always subject to a recall. Of the items on this year’s list of dangerous toys, the possibility of a marketing defect, or the failure to warn, seems to loom large.

Generally speaking, product defects that can lead to product liability lawsuits typically fall into one of three categories:

• Design defects (defect in the very design of the product),
• Manufacturing defects (soundly designed product, but a defect occurred in the manufacturing process),
• Marketing defect (there is nothing inherently wrong with the product, but it was not properly marketed so as to warn consumers about potential risks)

Toys Identified as Dangerous for Californians This Holiday Season

What toys topped the list of potentially hazardous products that could result in child injuries? The article lists some of the following:

• Peppa Pig’s Muddy Puddles Family, which can pose a choking hazard because of its small parts;
• Kids Time Baby Children’s Elephant Pillow, which can pose a suffocation hazard but does not warn consumers about such a risk;
• Slimeball Slinger, which can cause eye injuries from the toy’s ammunition;
• Banzai Bump N’ Bounce Body Bumpers, which can cause impact injuries;
• Nerf Rival Apollo Blaster, which can cause eye injuries but does not come with warnings about such a risk;
• The Good Dinosaur Galloping Butch, which can cause puncture wounds but does not have a warning that mentions this;
• Peppy Pups, which can pose a risk of strangulation;
• Flying Heroes Superman Launcher, which can pose a risk of injuries to the eyes and to the face;
• Baby Magic Feed and Play Baby, which can pose a risk of obstructing the airway of a child but does not properly warn about this risk; and
• Warcraft Doomhammer, which can pose a risk of impact injury.

If your child gets hurt after using a product designed for kids, it is important to learn more about filing a claim for compensation. An experienced San Diego County product liability lawyer can discuss your options with you today. Contact the Walton Law Firm to speak with an attorney about your case.

See Related Blog Posts: Injuries Caused By Exploding E-Cigarettes Recent Product Recalls Linked to Child Injuries

(image courtesy of Uberprutser)