Massachusetts Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Toy-Related Injuries and Deaths in 2007

A defective product can cause serious injuries, especially among children.  According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 18 children under the age of 15 were fatally injured by toys in the United States in 2007.  That same year, there were an estimated 232,900 toy-related injuries among all ages that were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments.

The majority of the reported toy-related deaths were linked to riding toys, such as non-motorized scooters, and small toy balls.  The CPSC stated in its 2007 report that most of these deaths resulted from airway obstruction from small toys, drowning or motor vehicle accidents during play.  The following is a breakdown of the causes of toy-related deaths:

On average, 218,700 toy-related injuries have been reported from 2005 to 2007.  In 2007, most of the injuries caused by toys were lacerations, abrasions and contusions, with the face and head area being the most affected.

Of the 232,900 toy-related injuries, 170,100 (73 percent) of those injuries were suffered by children under the age of 15 and 80,200 (34 percent) of those injuries affected children under the age of 5.

* Toy related Deaths and Injuries 2007 Report by U.S. CPSC