Current:Home > MarketsConsumer safety regulators adopt new rules to prevent dresser tip-overs-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Consumer safety regulators adopt new rules to prevent dresser tip-overs
View Date:2024-12-24 00:52:03
Federal regulators have approved new mandatory safety standards for dressers and other clothing storage units sold in the U.S., after decades of furniture tip-overs that have injured and in some cases killed children.
A rule approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission last week applies to dressers, armoires, wardrobes and more and is intended to protect children up to 72 months old from unstable furniture.
Consumer advocates, furniture industry trade organizations and a group of parents whose children died in furniture tip-overs all praised the new rule as a boon to household safety.
"Today is a victory for tip-over prevention that has been far too long in coming," the group Parents Against Tip-Overs said in a statement after the vote. "Had this stability rule existed twenty years ago, our kids would still be here today."
At least 234 people died as the result of clothing storage unit tip-overs between January 2000 and April 2022, according to the CPSC, 199 of whom were kids. The agency estimates that 5,300 clothing storage tip-over injuries sent people to hospitals each year from 2006 to 2021.
The group Kids in Danger estimates that furniture tip-overs send six children to the emergency room each day and kill one child every two weeks.
The new standard came after President Biden signed the STURDY Act into law in December, requiring the CPSC to adopt a mandatory safety standard for clothing storage units.
The standard had to include certain requirements under the law, such as tests that simulated the weight of children up to 60 pounds and involved other real-world conditions like being on carpet or having multiple drawers open at once.
Earlier last year, the CPSC approved its own mandatory standard for dressers and other similar furniture. The American Home Furnishings Alliance tried to have the rule vacated by a court, arguing that it was too broad.
The new standard approved by the CPSC, which was devised by the standards organization ASTM, will replace the previous standard. It has the backing of both consumer groups and furniture manufacturers.
Richard L. Trumka Jr., the only commissioner of four to vote against the new standard, said the commission was caving "to outside pressure" and adopting weaker rules that he said the agency's technical experts opposed.
"Consumers are now forced to accept that more children will be crushed to death in tip-over accidents," Trumka said, estimating that at least one child will die from a tip-over every year due to the discrepancy between the two standards.
"And I wonder who is going to explain today's decision to their parents. Who will explain that the Commission failed them because it chose the path of least resistance, instead of the path that would have saved their child's life," he added.
The final rule will take effect 120 days after it's published in the Federal Register. The AHFA told its members it expects the rule to be in effect by late August or September.
veryGood! (6288)
Related
- Francesca Farago Details Health Complications That Led to Emergency C-Section of Twins
- Fired founder of right-wing org Project Veritas is under investigation in New York
- Georgia jail where Trump, co-defendants expected to be booked is under DOJ investigation
- WeWork’s future: What to know after the company sounds the alarm on its ability to stay in business
- Man accused of killing American tourist in Budapest, putting her body in suitcase: Police
- AP Week in Pictures: Global | Aug 11 - Aug. 18, 2023
- Georgia school board fires teacher for reading a book to students about gender identity
- Seattle Mariners' Dylan Moore commits all-time brutal baserunning blunder
- A pair of Trump officials have defended family separation and ramped-up deportations
- Arizona AG investigating 2020 alleged fake electors tied to Trump
Ranking
- Unexpected pairing: New documentary tells a heartwarming story between Vietnam enemies
- Residents flee capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories ahead of Friday deadline as wildfire nears
- Florida law restricting property ownership for Chinese citizens, others remains active
- Survey shows most people want college athletes to be paid. You hear that, NCAA?
- Cruel Intentions' Brooke Lena Johnson Teases the Biggest Differences Between the Show and the 1999 Film
- New York governor blocks discharge of radioactive water into Hudson River from closed nuclear plant
- Salma Hayek Reveals She Had to Wear Men's Suits Because No One Would Dress Her in the '90s
- Charlize Theron Has the Best Response to Rumors She’s Gotten Plastic Surgery
Recommendation
-
24 more monkeys that escaped from a South Carolina lab are recovered unharmed
-
‘Blue Beetle’ actors may be sidelined by the strike, but their director is keeping focus on them
-
Price of college football realignment: Losing seasons, stiffer competition
-
Kellie Pickler speaks out for first time since husband's death: 'Darkest time in my life'
-
'SNL' stars jokingly declare support for Trump, Dana Carvey plays Elon Musk
-
Pilot accused of destroying parking barrier at Denver airport with an ax says he hit breaking point
-
Evacuation of far northern Canadian city of Yellowknife ordered as wildfires approach
-
The Blind Side: Michael Oher’s Former Football Coach Says He Knows What He Witnessed With Tuohys