- The primary method by which a child is injured from a shopping cart is when, for a variety of reasons, he falls to the floor. For ease of cleaning, the vast majority of retail stores in the United States have hard concrete floors. Lacking the experience or basic coordination to attempt to break his fall, a child tumbling from a shopping cart stands a high chance of suffering some sort of head or spinal injury, which could turn into a lifelong disability.
- Some carts are designed with a high center of gravity, thus making them prone to tipping over even if the child is properly seated and restrained. The end result, a serious injury, can be no fault of the child or supervising parent. Basic design modifications that lower the cart's center of gravity would go a long way toward mitigating the issue entirely. The American Academy of Pediatrics thinks that mandatory government design requirements could almost entirely eliminate the problem.
- Harried parents trying to get their shopping done often don't take the few seconds required to secure their child in a seated position in the area of the cart designed to hold children. Adding to the problem is the reality that some carts either don't have the child restraints installed or they are broken. For young children, the temptation of shiny, flashy products beckoning them from a nearby shelf is overwhelming and, before the parent is aware, the child is up reaching for the item and falling to the floor.
- In the absence of current shopping cart regulations, it falls to the parent to ensure a child's safety while at the store. The most ironclad way to prevent cart injury is to not bring the child on the excursion in the first place, though that choice is often not available. Other options would be to have another adult or older child come along with the task of keeping a watchful eye on the youngster(s). Strollers, wagons or baby slings are preferable alternatives also.
next post