Photo via New Qualitative Every year, thousands of children are treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for falls from shopping carts. Falls from shopping carts are among the leading causes of head injuries to young children and most often occur when children stand up in the child seat or the cart basket. Injuries result when children climb or fall out of shopping carts because the restraint system is not being used, children unbuckle or wiggle out of the restraint, or the restraint is missing. Children can also fall from the shopping cart seat even when an infant seat, infant carrier or a car seat is placed in the cart seat.
Falls can be fatal. A 3-month-old infant died in 2011 after his car seat fell out of a shopping cart when the shopping cart rolled over a speed bump in a grocery store parking lot. In 1994, a 3-year-old boy died after he stood up in the cart and fell over backward and hit his head.
CPSC has worked with ASTM International and the industry to raise awareness about the hazards associated with shopping carts. A 2012 voluntary standard requires restraint systems and a warning label on shopping carts. It also encourages retailers to display a warning poster in their stores.
To prevent falls from shopping carts:
- Use seatbelts to restrain your child in the cart seat.
- Retailers should ensure that all carts have seatbelts and that the seatbelts work as intended.
- Stay with your child at all times.Don’t allow your child to ride in the cart basket.
- Don’t place a personal infant carrier or car seat in the cart seat or basket.
- Don't allow your child to ride or climb on the sides or front of the cart.
- Don’t allow a child to push the cart with another child in it.
Reference: CPSC Safety Alert
