Posted on March 4, 2014 · Posted in Brain Injury

They are all the rage, the bigger and better televisions of today. The flat screen HD-LED TV’s keep getting bigger and cheaper. Almost everyone has one or maybe three or four. It is great to watch a movie or sporting event on a television that you feel like you are in a theatre or on the field. Not only are they bigger with better picture quality than the older big screen TV’s but they weigh at least ½ as much. So what could possibly be bad about the new revolution of television? They are unstable.
According to an article on the Techlicious website: http://www.techlicious.com/blog/new-hdtvs-may-increase-tip-over-injuries/, there is a danger, especially to small children as they tend to tip over very easily. It states that 29% of the 17,000 tip-over incidents in 2011 required ER visits and cause the death of one child every three weeks. This statistic came from the Safekids.org website.
So what can be done about this tragic series of events? Some companies are coming up with new technologies for stabling the HDTV-Led televisions by re-centering the pedestal. Another way to lessen the risk of a tip-over is to have the TV sitting on a stand that is wider than the television so that children are less likely to bump it off its base. Rather than the pedestal stand for the new TV’s some have feet on either side of the TV that make it even less stable and cause more tip-overs. A child under the age of five can easily turn over the bigger TV’s which in turn can cause serious bodily injury or even death. We can only hope that soon there will be safety requirements for making all TV’s more stable.
If you or your child has become a victim of such an accident and don’t know where to turn for help, please feel free to call our office at 800-992-9447. We would be happy to show you some guidance.

About the Author

Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
Past Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447