If you are reading this, it's unfortunately likely because your child
has fallen from a shopping cart resulting in an injury of some sort. The
statistics say that if that's the case, the
injury is likely a head injury, and if that's the case, it's likely a
concussion. As you read in the title of this blog entry, this occurrence
happens commonly in the United States and Massachusetts is no exception.
As reported by
Yahoo, the journal of Clinical Pediatrics published this information, and the
numbers are really staggering.
According to the report, every year there are 24,000 child injuries related
to shopping carts. Yes, that's 66 injuries of this type per day. Even
if your child has not been the victim of one of these injuries, you know
exactly how they occur, because anyone who has spent time in a supermarket
has seen children attempting to escape from their carts. Further, anyone
who has tried to buckle a kid into the cart knows that the safety belts
are often broken or simply inadequate. In fact, some are so defectively
designed that even when the parent completely follows the instructions
(if there are any) the child is still able to wiggle out and extract himself
or herself from the cart.
I believe most every parent has experienced the following event: Parent
checks to make sure the child is secure in seat of cart. Parent, in the
middle of an uncrowded isle, pacing back-and-forth looking for something,
decides lugging the cart around is unnecessary and that a short, independent
venture a few feet away from the cart will save time and sanity. Parent
then brings the cart to a complete stop, again checks belt of child, which
looks fully secure. Parent then averts eyes to shelving and takes 3 or
4 steps away from cart, methodically yet feverishly scanning the shelving
for the needed product. Three seconds pass, and Parent's conscience
forces Parent to check on the cart. Parent looks up to find the child
standing directly up in the seat, completely free of the belt--a mini
Houdini standing there, waiting for parent to observe and appreciate the
child's art of escape. Yikes! Parent, lunges back, grabs the child,
puts him/her back in seat, re-secures belt and then reverts to cart dragging
technique. We have all been there. The fact is, the child is almost always
saved, at least in my experience. Not so much for 24,000 others each year.
What things can you do to best ensure your child remains safe? Choose the
carts with the child seats close to the ground. The worst injuries occur
when the child falls from a standard child seat height: four feet or so.
Clearly, injuries will tend to be less severe when the fall is from only
6 inches, even when the seats seem less secure, like in those "race
car" carts. Next, make sure the seat belts work. These things take
a ton of wear and tear, and because there are no enforceable standards,
when one breaks, the cart stays in use. Next, make sure the belt is properly
buckled and if your child knows how to unbuckle it, make sure to explain
the rules to him or her and check often to make sure the child is still
buckled. Lastly, don't leave your child unattended. It's a no-brainer
(if we're not at the end of our parental ropes). Things will be more
difficult with an injured child, so keep hold of that cart.
So, what kind of liability arises in these cases? Well, they are
premises liability cases, so in Massachusetts (and many other states which follow the mode of operation
standard) the question really is: is this type of danger foreseeable,
and did the retailer take reasonable steps to protect the customer?
Before giving a subjective and impulsive response, consider this. There
are countries all over the world with enforced standards for shopping
cart safety. The U.S. is not one of those countries. There are designs
available and in use in which people could do hand stands on the handle
and they would not fall over. Meanwhile, most of us with little kids have
to try two or three carts before we find one with a working (yet inadequate)
seat belt. So the answer is that yes, there is liability for the retailers,
but there may also be liability for the parent, resulting in potential
comparative fault and reduced recovery for the party with the injury.
A jury will likely be the decider of who has what share of
fault and what the total recovery should be. That would likely be based on the
behavior of the parent and the totality of the circumstances. On that
end, consider your case as objectively as possible. How would you apportion
fault if you were on the jury and the party injured was someone you didn't
know? In the end, to get an accurate sense of liability, you really need
to speak with a competent personal injury attorney. As you likely know
from reviewing the site, we are
Boston personal injury lawyers exclusively handling personal injury matters across Massachusetts. If
you'd like your case assessed, call us or another competent lawyer today.