As Christmas 2015 quickly approaches, the personal injury attorneys at Pribanic & Pribanic hope you are prepared for the holidays. Yes, we hope your pies turned out well, and that your holiday bird ends up tastier than Clark Griswold’s. But since it’s the season of giving (and because we’re personal injury attorneys), we wanted to also make sure we passed along not only this year’s most-dangerous toys list, but also some rules of thumb for choosing safe gifts in general for the kiddies in your life (just in case you have to hit main street or one of the big-box stores for a last-minute present or two). When it comes to giving the gift of toys, there are a few that you’re going to want to skip if you want to avoid giving the gift of personal injury this holiday season. According to a new report, the top-five most dangerous toys for Christmas 2015 included “Jurassic World” velociraptor claws, pull-along toys, a doctor set and a folding trampoline because of safety risks (small parts, dangerous chemicals, etc.). The report was penned by the watchdog group World Against Toys Causing Harm, which has released the list annually for more than 40 years to draw attention to a problem that, while familiar to experts and personal injury lawyers, might not be as visible to the general public: That the toy industry is largely unregulated, and that as a result, children are harmed and even killed every day because of unsafe or defective products. This year the group implored parents to be careful of what products they purchase online. To do that, remember to:
- Avoid toys with limited product information - If the product description doesn’t include what materials the product was composed of, or how it is assembled, you should consider it a red flag.
- Watch for inconsistent warnings and age requirements – Do your due diligence. Cross-reference the warnings and age requirements for toys you want to purchase for your child online to ensure that you are aware of any safety warnings and age requirements that may not be posted on all online retail sites.
- Watch out for recycled or up-cycled toys. We know: Retro toys from the ’70s, ‘80s and ‘90s are all the rage. If you want to purchase some old action figures or games as a blast from the past, steer clear of toys that could have been recalled, deemed defective products, or caused personal injury.