Treadmills and Child Injuries-What  You Need to Know

Treadmills are excellent gym equipment for cardiovascular exercises. It improves heart rate, blood flow, and muscle tone and helps with weight loss. Thus, many use treadmills for home cardiovascular exercises, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic forced gym facilities to close.

The problem is that treadmills can prove dangerous if small children are around. The kids could try reaching the machine, trap their ‘ small body parts, and cause critical injuries or even death.

You thus need to know how you can prevent child injuries involving an at-home treadmill. And understand the legal actions you can take if the machine hurts your child.

Understanding the Dangers of At-Home Treadmills to Children

A treadmill involves a conveyer belt that runs through a track on a metallic frame. The machine has a narrow gap where the belt passes through, which can trap small kids’ body parts like the hair and hands.

It also has other dangerous parts like power cords that could cause injuries like:

• Friction burns
• Skin and muscle abrasions
• Severe cuts
• Bone fracture
• Amputation
• Possible strangulation or electrocution
• Impact injuries if thrown by the conveyer belt

Thus, many children sustain injuries or may even die because of treadmills. As of April 2021, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recorded 39 child injury accidents and one death involving Peloton Tread. And in May 2021, Peloton ordered a recall for their product.

How to Keep Children Safe from Treadmills

Remembering these tips help keep your kids safe from possible at-home treadmill accidents:

1. Keep your treadmill in a safe spot where your kids can’t reach it. For example, in your home gym or blocked by a portable wall.

2. Don’t leave dangling power cords around the treadmill.

3. Prefer treadmills with safety features like security passwords or stop keys. Safety passwords prevent your child from turning on the treadmill, while stop keys let you abruptly shut down the machine if needed.

4. Don’t let your child go near a running treadmill. Some accidents happen when a child tries to approach their parent while using the machine. Moreover, never leave a running treadmill and always unplug it when not in use.

5. Tell your kids all about the treadmill and its hazards. For instance, tell them that the treadmill is not a toy that they could play with.

What to Do If Your Treadmill Injuries Your Child

Now, here are two critical steps you must do when your child sustains injuries from a treadmill accident:

1. Take Your Child to the Hospital

Rush your child immediately to the hospital for proper medical attention.

However, do call 911 if you can’t handle the situation alone, like if you need help removing your kid’s entrapped body part.

2. File a Defective Product Case

You could also file a defective product claim against the treadmill’s manufacturer. It’s possible if there were technical problems with the machine design and manufacturing quality, like in Peloton Tread’s case.

You also need to consult with a Burbank personal injury lawyer to handle your case. Taking legal action against a company is a challenging lawsuit that could lead you to more than a million-dollar settlement.

Call a Personal Injury Attorney in Burbank for a Treadmill Accident Case

Treadmills are helpful for your physical fitness but could be dangerous for your children. Thus, remember the tips above to keep children safe from your at-home treadmill.

And if accidents do happen, take your child to the emergency room for immediate medical attention. You should then consult a Burbank personal injury lawyer to see if you can file a case against the manufacturer.