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In the United States, lawn mower rollover accidents occur daily requiring emergency room visits or hospital admittance.  Stability defects in design can lead to rollovers which often cause severe injuries such as paralysis, head trauma or even death.  Some other injuries resulting from lawn mower rollover accidents include: 

Amputated toes or fingers

Asphyxiation

Broken bones

Burns

Deep cuts

Dislocations 

Serious injuries and deaths could be prevented by installing rollover protection systems (ROPS) when lawn mowers are manufactured.  The ROPS should be standard equipment; however, many lawn mower manufacturers do not install them on the equipment they sell.

Children can be injured by the moving blades of lawn mowers when they are backing up.  A simple switch called a "no mow in reverse" switch which shuts off the mowing blade when the mower is in reverse has been available for years and is standard equipment on many riding mowers. Many major riding lawn mowers, however, are in use today without this essential safety feature even after the lawn mower industry voluntarily adopted the standard for mowers manufactured after 2003.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, each year approximately 68,000 people are seriously injured in lawn mower accidents; more than 9,000 of those hurt are younger than 18 years of age. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that 15 children are killed every year because of lawn mower accidents.  In 2010 the CPSC recalled the Black and Decker cordless electric lawn mowers because they unexpectedly started after the safety keys were removed.  Because of this defect over 160,000 lawn mowers were recalled.

"Lawns grow year-round in Florida and require continuous mowing. Should you or a loved one suffer injury or death as the result of defective lawn mowers, there is legal protection in the state of Florida outlined in the 2013 Florida Statue 768.81 Comparative Fault  which defines a product liability action as:

A civil action based upon a theory of strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, nuisance, or similar theories for damages caused by the manufacture, construction, design, formulation, installation, preparation, or assembly of a product. The term includes an action alleging that injuries received by a claimant in an accident were greater than the injuries the claimant would have received but for a defective product. The substance of an action, not the conclusory terms used by a party, determines whether an action is a products liability action.

We are Product Defect Attorneys at Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., and have assisted numerous people and their families who have suffered as a result of defective products."  

Florida Defective Products 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.