Latest Blogs

66 children are hurt each day in the U.S. as a result of shopping cart accidents, according to a recent study by Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio. The study reported that one child in every 22 received injuries serious enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room.  That equates to 24,000 children a year.

NBC News Health reports that since the voluntary shopping cart standards took effect in 2004, the problem has not gotten better.  Dr. Gary Smith of Nationwide's Center for Injury Research and Policy said in the Journal of Clinical Pediatrics that the annual number of concussions associated with shopping carts in children younger than 15, jumped to 90% between 1990 to 2011.

Dr. Smith believes that the U.S's. lack of stability standards is part of the problem.

On January 16, 2014 a teenage worker at Home Depot in Alaska was quick-thinking and saved a child who was falling from a shopping cart seat. 

Researchers recommend design changes be made to shopping carts.

• Improve restraint systems
• Place children's seating closer to the floor to lower the center of gravity thus decreasing children's likelihood of falling.

In addition, stores may become more proactive by:

• Frequent announcements regarding parents' using safety restraints.
• Store employees showing parents how to use the safety features.

"Since children ride in shopping carts every day, it is important to keep those children safe from accident while in shopping carts. Below are some tips from the  Washington Post - Health and Science," says Cape Coral Accident Attorney, Randall Spivey of Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A.

• Use safety straps and be sure that your child is snugly secured in them and that the child’s legs are placed through the cart’s leg openings. If parts of the cart restraint system are missing or are not working, choose another cart.
• Use a cart that has a child seat that is low to the ground, if one is available.
• Make sure your child remains seated, and don’t leave him or her alone.
• Avoid placing infant carriers on top of shopping carts. If your child is not old enough to sit upright in the shopping cart seat, consider leaving your child at home with another adult, using a front-pack or backpack carrier, or using a stroller.

Florida  Accident Attorney,  Randall L. Spivey is a Board Certified Trial Attorney – the highest recognition for competence bestowed by the Florida Bar and a distinction earned by just one (1%) percent of Florida attorneys.  He has handled over 2,000 personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout Florida.  For a free and confidential consultation to discuss your legal rights, contact the Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., in Lee County at 239.337.7483 or toll free at 1.888.477.4839,or by email to Randall@SpiveyLaw.com.  Visit SpiveyLaw.com for more information.  You can contact Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A.in Charlotte County at 941.764.7748 and in Collier County 239.793.7748.