Consumer Product Safety Commission Opens Window Covering Safety Petition Submitted by The Onder Law Firm for Public Comment Under Its Proposed Rulemaking Process
St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) July 31, 2013 -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission acknowledges that the cords on window blinds and other window covering products present a strangulation danger to children, with a child dying from blind cord strangulation approximately once per month (Chicago Tribune, 12/26/2011, articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-12-26/news/ct-met-window-blind-update-20111226_1_blinds-and-shades-taut-cord-window-covering-manufacturers-association), something that eight consumer safety organizations and the most prominent law firm representing families of children killed or seriously injured by window blind cord strangulation find completely unacceptable. As a result, the law firm of Onder, Shelton, O'Leary & Peterson, LLC joined Parents for Window Blind Safety, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Kids in Danger, U.S. PIRG, Public Citizen, Independent Safety Consulting and Safety Behavior Analysis, Inc. in filing a petition with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on May 23, 2013 requesting the agency move from the current voluntary safety standards to mandatory standards to make operating cords for window coverings inaccessible. More than 200 children have died due to window blind cord strangulation in the last twenty years, with numerous others being severely injured.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is tasked with keeping Americans safe through its regulation of the sale and manufacture of consumer goods, has made repeated attempts at window blind cord strangulation safety, but those efforts have been blocked by the window covering manufacturers and their lobbyists. Safety regulators have demanded that window blind strangulation risks be eliminated entirely, which the Window Covering Manufacturers Association has called "over-regulation", suggesting it is neither possible nor common sense. The petition to have the CPSC issue mandatory standards to make window covering cords safer for children was opened for public comment on July 15, 2013 as part of its rulemaking process. The entities filing the petition with the CPSC expect significant resistance from the window blind and shade industry, but insist that the common sense solution is to end the prioritization of profits over the lives of children. Because of the failure of previous efforts working with the industry through CPSC task forces, they now believe the only way to end window blind cord strangulation deaths is for the CPSC to enact mandatory safety standards.
About The Onder Law Firm
Onder, Shelton, O’Leary & Peterson, LLC is a St. Louis based personal injury law firm handling serious injury and death claims across the country. Its mission is the pursuit of justice, no matter how complex the case or strenuous the effort. In the last 10 years James Onder, the founding partner of Onder, Shelton, O’Leary & Peterson, has represented more families in window blind cord strangulation lawsuits than all lawyers in the country combined. As an attorney, he has worked with families across the country seeking change through the litigation process so that no other family has to suffer the horror of discovering their child strangled by a blind cord. By making window blind manufacturers financially accountable for their products when they have resulted injury or death to a child, he is reducing their financial incentive to continue producing products that could be made safe for marginally more money. His representation of more than 50 families across 40 states has resulted in numerous interviews and features by newspapers such as the New York Times and Chicago Tribune. More information pertaining to window blind cord strangulation may be found at http://www.windowblindcorddangers.com.
Michael Gudeman, Gudeman Group, http://www.gudemangroup.com, 314-614-8709, [email protected]
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