Washington D.C. – Today, Parents for Window Blind Safety, Consumer Federation of America, Kids In Danger, Consumers Union, U.S. PIRG and Independent Safety Consulting, urged parents to be cautious this holiday season and to make sure that the window coverings in their homes are cordless, in light of four children’s deaths in the past six weeks.
In a recent twenty-nine day period, four children strangled to death from cords on a window covering: a 4-year-old boy, in Chicago Ridge, Illinois, on November 12, 2016; a 4-year-old girl in Salt Lake City, Utah, on November 29, 2016; a 4-year-old girl in League City, Texas, on December 7, 2016; and a 3-year-old boy in Cleburne, Texas, on December 10, 2016. Each of these children died after the cord of a window covering strangled them. In 2016, we are aware of a total of 11 window cord strangulation deaths. These most recent tragic incidents contribute to the already long list of 293 deaths and serious injuries associated with these products between 1996 and 2012.
