Falling TVs

[Airehead]

After reading the Head Shed thread, I found this

According to the latest report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 41 people — mostly children — were killed by falling TVs in 2011. Since 2000, more than 200 children have died that way.

[Prophet Zacharia]

Even after Led Zeppelin stopped touring? Amazing.

[Razors Edge ★]

3 minutes ago, Airehead said:

After reading the Head Shed thread, I found this

According to the latest report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 41 people — mostly children — were killed by falling TVs in 2011. Since 2000, more than 200 children have died that way.

"Accidents" are likely near the top of cause of death of children.  It seems like they just don't have full survival instincts at a younger age.

[ChrisL]

I dumped a 19” B&W tv on myself as a child.  I can see it happening.

[Prophet Zacharia]

1 minute ago, Razors Edge said:

It seems like they just don't have full survival instincts at a younger age.

I'm not frequently looking up for falling TV's (or Turkey's, except at Thanksgiving), so I may not blame the victims in these cases.

[maddmaxx ★]

People do shoddy wall hanging or have large sets on low tables where small children can grab and pull.

I suspect the death toll for tipping over dressers is even larger.

[Razors Edge ★]

2 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

People do shoddy wall hanging or have large sets on low tables where small children can grab and pull.

I suspect the death toll for tipping over dressers is even larger.

Our Ikea bookcases - 7' high - all came with a strap and wall attachment to keep them from getting tipped.  I imagine folks complain about "Big Gov't" making all sorts of unnecessary rules, but a bookcase full of books or other stuff could cause some pretty painful injuries vs a $0.50 strap and some mounting screws.

[Further]

The old CRT TV's in the larger sizes had a lot of weight right in the front of the screen, the 38" Sony picture tube weighed well over 100 pounds, all of it concentrated at the very front of the set. They were sold with anchor straps and instructions to anchor, but...

[maddmaxx ★]

Dressers are sneaky bad.  They need retainers because what seems solid just sitting there becomes very top heavy toward the front when drawers are pulled out.  Dishwashers ditto

[jsharr ★]

Considering the number of homes and businesses that have mulitple TV's, the number of TVs in the us is probably greater than the population of the US>  Nielsens estimated 119.9 million TV households for 2018-19.

I read one estimate from 2005 that there were 285 million tvs in use in US households.

So tragic as 41 deaths are, it is a tiny number and not something to be overly concerned about in my opinion.

I would probably feel very differently if I was the parent of one of the 41

[MickinMD ★]

I wonder how many killer TVs were the old analog type with digital antenna/cable adapters?

The newer TV's seem too light to kill, though they're often high on a wall to begin with.