5 Serious Safety Concerns

[rpyfz450]

5 serious safety concerns
consumerreports.org

Jim Guest
ACTION NEEDED Our product-safety proposals could help save lives.
At Consumers Union, we’re not shy about sharing our opinions with the federal agencies responsible for product safety. As we enter a new year, we’re focusing on some of the dangers that, with enlightened regulatory action, shouldn’t be dangers. In some cases, the agencies are already devoting varying amounts of resources to these issues. But we’d like to see decisive action on the following in 2007:

Stability control. In September the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed making electronic stability control (ESC) mandatory on all new light passenger vehicles. Consumers Union has long pushed for that. We believe that ESC is the most important advance in auto safety since the safety belt. ESC can help keep a vehicle out of an accident and could save more than 10,000 lives a year. We applaud NHTSA for taking the first step. Now it needs to move from proposal to regulation.

Blind zones. We’ve all driven cars with blind zones. Automakers don’t have to comply with any standards for driver visibility. An especially egregious example is the Toyota FJ Cruiser (available to subscribers) we tested for this month’s auto report. Thick roof pillars, short windows, and a slit-like windshield add up to lousy visibility. At the very least, CU supports camera systems that show what--or who--is behind a vehicle before it backs up. That might have prevented 100 deaths and 2,400 injuries among children last year.

ATVs. All-terrain vehicles caused an estimated 740 deaths and 125,000 injuries in 2003, the latest year for which data are available. Thirty percent of victims were under 16. The current voluntary industry standards should be mandatory. And three-wheelers, tandems, and child-sized ATVs should be banned.

Pool alarms. There’s no mandatory standard for pool alarms, which alert owners if people enter the water when they shouldn’t. Our tests show that many alarms don’t work. About 280 children under age 5 drown in U.S. pools each year. Of course, layers of protection are needed: fences, gates, locks, safety drains, and safety covers. If pools are going to have the added safety feature of a pool alarm, it should work properly. A voluntary industry standard exists; it should be made mandatory.

Ladders. What goes up must come down, but preferably without killing 150 people and injuring 180,000 a year. Better design would help. Current voluntary standards are outdated and inadequate. Safety regulators should study the data, figure out why so many ladders are failing, and strengthen standards.


Jim Guest's signature.

Jim Guest
President

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/aboutus...ou-heard_ov.htm

[speedyquad]

this idiot needs taken out...banning atv's is the the cure...better training and even though i hate to say it...stricter buying regulations...i'll elablorate more ina little bit...i have to get my daughter ready for school

[speedyquad]

here are my thoughts on what shouild be done about atv safety.

1. EVERYONE buying and atv, new or used should have to take a safety class. If you have proof that you have already passed the class, then you do not have to take it again upon the purchase of another atv. Having takent hsi class would be mandatory before you get delivery of the atv. All children in the household are to take the safety course as well at the same time

2. Anyone selling an atv is responsible for having the title/registration transferred. If the title is not transferred, then any injuries or property damage done by that atv becomes the responsibility of the title owner. Fines are to be steep. The title and posession of the atv cannot transfer due to above point #1.

3. Parents are to familiarize themselves with the abilities of the atv they are purchasing before they take posession. This will be done at the safety class. Hopefully they will leatrn here that little 6 yr johnny should not be on a 600 lb grizzly.

i had more at one time. i hate to see stricter regulations, but something needs to be done. we are slowly losing this battle and it needs turned around...this could be a start...yes, i have sent this to legislators in both email and hard copy form. i have never received a reply from anyone

[rpyfz450]

I'd like to see how these figures compare with others. I wonder how many people were killed or injured while swimming or skiing.

[cheeseburger]

More kids die on bikes than anything else and yet parents still do not make their kids wear helmets while riding them. Do we ban the bikes or the parents. Lets ban ladders and make everything only 7 feet tall in the world. Or better yet, lets ban skateboarding too because it is dangerous. HELLLLLLLLOOOO idiot.


If you want to make a difference for children, then ban mountain and rockwall climbing, diving, ban pet snakes and pet scorpions and pet spyders, ban foreign taxi cab drivers from NYC, ban sending white kids to ethnically challenged schools, ban school bus drivers who have heart conditions and are retirees, ban used text books because they carry alot of germs, ban cheap bicycles because they cause more crashes when their parts fail, ban mainstreaming non english speaking kids which retards the educations of others, ban telling kids they can't express themselves through their clothing and hairstyles, ban unchallenged porn on the internet, ban sending kids to war for oil when the turn 18.

why dont we try banning those and see if they make a difference in child safety

note: I firmly believe that EVERYONE should be required to take a safety course and be licensed to operate anything motorized not matter what your age.