When proper safety precautions are taken, trampolines are great family purchases, especially when there are several children in the household. These fun playtime products can provide hours of entertainment for people of all ages – from young children (supervised, of course) to adults.
When the trampoline is designed or manufactured with a defect, however, all users of the product are put at risk of serious injury. Because trampolines are high off the ground, propel their users many feet into the air, and are made with metal, a defect in a trampoline can cause injuries ranging from minor cuts and bruises to life-threatening wounds.
If your child has suffered injuries as a result of a defective trampoline, you may be entitled to compensation from those responsible. Defective-trampoline lawyer Jeff Killino understands how important it is for companies and corporations to manufacture safe and reliable products. Call personal injury attorney Jeffrey Killino today at 877-875-2927 to learn more about how he can help you fight your case.
Trampoline Injuries
While there have been few reported deaths resulting from trampoline accidents, the number of trampoline-related injuries each year is extremely high. Based on information provided by the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), more than 200,000 trampoline-caused injuries necessitating medical attention have occurred in a single year. Of these injuries, over half occur in children 14 years old or younger. Injuries to areas of the body have been statistically distributed as follows:
- Leg and foot injuries – 40%
- Arm and hand injuries – 29%
- Head, face, and neck injuries – 20%
- Shoulder and torso injuries – 10%
While the extremities are clearly most at risk of sustaining an injury, major organs such as the brain and nervous system may also be damaged in a trampoline accident.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), most trampoline accidents occur when children land awkwardly, fall off while jumping, collide with frames or springs, or collide with another child or adult who is using the trampoline. Trampolines have been recalled by the CPSC for easily breakable netting, for example, which posed a risk for users of falling off the trampoline if the netting broke.
Manufacturer’s Responsibility
A trampoline manufacturer bears the responsibility of ensuring that trampolines are sturdy and able to withstand significant amounts of wear and tear and sold with an enclosure option that protects jumpers from falling off the edge. Providing buyers with information regarding the expected lifetime of the product is also important, so that consumers will know how long they can safely use the product.
Legal Liability for Injuries Caused by Defective Trampolines
When a defect in a trampoline is a cause of a child’s injuries, a product-liability action may be brought against the manufacturer of the trampoline, the manufacturer of its component parts, and anyone else in the chain of the trampoline’s distribution, including the assembler of the equipment.
Failure to Warn Cases
Sellers and manufacturers of trampolines have often been held liable for injuries caused to a child by a defect in the trampoline under a failure to warn theory. The failure to adequately warn of a product’s dangers and to provide instructions for its safe use is considered to make the product dangerous, and therefore, defective.
Design Defect Cases
In addition to failure-to-warn defects, design defects have also been the basis for liability for injuries caused by defective trampolines. Design defects in frame beds and suspension systems, failure to provide end-protectors for springs, poorly designed mechanisms for securing frame pads, poorly designed folding mechanisms, and faulty attachments of mats to frames have all been held to constitute actionable defects when found to have been a cause of a plaintiff’s injuries.
Manufacturing Defect Cases
Trampolines may also be found defective under product-liability law for defects in the manufacture of the product. A manufacturing defect can occur when a product is safely and adequately designed but when something goes wrong in the manufacturing stage. A trampoline designed to contain railings that would protect users from falling off the trampoline might be defectively manufactured, for example, if the materials used to produce the railings were inferior or defective, resulting in railings that failed to provide the protection they would have provided if they had been made of suitable materials.
Contact Us
If your child has suffered an injury from a defective trampoline, you may be entitled to compensation from those responsible. Contact defective-trampoline lawyer Jeff Killino today at 877-875-2927 to learn more about your legal options.