A recent study shows head injury from shopping cart accidents is on the rise in the United States.
In an article published in Clinical Pediatrics, researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital made a call for stronger regulation and better design of shopping carts.
In the study, researchers looked at data from emergency rooms from 1990 through 2011. In that time, more than half a million children younger than age 15 were treated for injuries from shopping cart accidents that include:
- Head injury
- Broken bones
- Soft tissue injury
- Entrapment wounds
The study estimated 24,000 children, or about 66 children per day, are injured from falls and collisions with shopping carts at grocery and other stores.
A lead author of the study, Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, stated, “Not only have the overall number of child injuries associated with shopping carts not decreased since implementation of the safety standards, but the number of concussions and closed head injuries is actually increasing.”
A fall from a shopping cart is the leading form of injury, with head injuries representing almost 70 percent of diagnosis. During the years of the study, incidence of closed head injury and concussion rose approximately 200 percent.
Added Dr. Smith, “It is time we take action to protect our children by strengthening shopping cart safety standards with requirements that will more effectively prevent tip-overs and falls from shopping carts.”
The study suggests redesign of shopping carts to locate children closer to the floor and more effective restraint systems to keep children from falling out of carts.
If taking your child to the grocery store is necessary—and it is for most parents—be sure to use cart seatbelts and keep close watch. If your child is injured in Florida, speak with a skilled personal injury law firm in Sarasota County.