Bouncing Into Injury: Trampoline Hazards & Risks

TrampolineThat common backyard toy your kids continue to ask you for is more than just a toy; trampolines are a money pit and injury waiting to happen.

In 2013 alone there were more than 286,000 reported injuries due to trampolines including broken bones, spinal injuries, and head injuries. Ninety percent of the injuries were from kids ages 5-13. You might believe adult supervision and safety nets could reduce these injuries but that is not the case. One third of these injuries occurred while under adult supervision and there is no data showing that trampoline netting helps reduce injuries.

What’s the cost of all of this? In 2014, trampoline injuries had an economic cost of $9 BILLION from medical and legal cost to time off of work and pain and suffering.

Listen in as Kevin King discusses the hazards and risks of backyard trampolines. He’ll also discuss how trampoline parks are equally dangerous and what steps you have to take to stay safe if you are determined to keep a backyard trampoline.

Want more information on the hazards of trampolines? Review these articles and position statements.

Trampoline Park and Home Trampoline Injuries from the American Academy of Pediatrics

Trampoline Safety in Childhood Adolescence from the American Academy of Pediatrics

Trampolines and Trampoline Safety from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

Trampolines Are Dangerous Even with Nets from momsTeam

Want to hear more talks from Peter and Kevin King? Tune into WCIS 1010 AM Columbus, IN the first and third Friday of every month for People’s Law Talk.

Eliminating US Traffic Fatalities: It Is Possible

Car Technology 2What would you say if someone told you there could be zero traffic deaths each year? It might sound like a pipe dream, but it’s not. Many safety advocates are saying it is possible to eliminate most of the 30,000 plus annual highway fatalities in the US.

How is it possible? Speeding up the adoption on new safety technology. Automakers are notoriously known for taking decades to fully integrate existing safety technology into cars on a standard basis. But, if automakers were to safely speed along their adoption process for things that have been around since 2000 like forward-collision warning, rear cameras, lane-departure warning, traffic-jam assist, adaptive cruise control, and more, the aim for Vision Zero could be within reach.

Vision Zero was written into Swedish law in 1997, stating no level of traffic fatalities would be acceptable. They are demanding 100 percent safety on the road. New technology advancements like vehicle-to-vehicle communications and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications are a part of making Vision Zero a reality.

But even without those technologies that are in the works, and just with what is possible as of 2015, US traffic deaths could be cut by almost 10,000 a year, that is, if these technologies were implemented in all cars on the roadway. That’s where it gets harder. The US has nearly 260 million light vehicles on the road with an average age of 11.5 years. That’s a lot of older cars without new technology and with no financial incentives many consumers won’t or can’t invest in newer, safer technology.

It’s time for consumers, automakers, and lawmakers to step up. It’s time to stop accepting traffic fatalities as a normal. It’s time to demand the safety technology available is implemented in new vehicles. It’s time to demand affordable, safer options for America’s roadways.

Want to read more about the aim for zero roadway fatalities? Read Aiming For Zero, Automotive News for more details on this goal that could become a reality.