Chicago Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

With children back to school for nearly a month now, many families have adjusted to new schedules and have come to terms with cooler temperatures as fall-like conditions quickly hit the Chicago area. The Chicago personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll believe that now is as good of a time as any to review safety measures with children of all ages. The Chicago Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog recently discussed Heather A. Begley's tips on bus safety. We have also found the following tips from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that should be reviewed by parents, caregivers and students:

1. Children who ride bikes or scooters to school should wear a properly fitted helmet while riding. Helmets that have already been involved in an accident must be discarded.

2. With that said, children should not wear helmets while playing on playgrounds as they can become attached to playground equipment and cause strangling.

3. In the same vein, remove drawstrings from your child's hooded jacket, or "hoodie," to prevent strangulation injuries. Also remove drawstrings from the waist line. "CPSC has received 26 reports of children who died when the drawstring on their clothing became tangled on playground slides, school bus doors and other objects. Waist and bottom drawstrings have been caught in doors or other car parts resulting in dragging incidents."

4. CPSC has recommended that soccer coaches, school officials and soccer field maintenance personnel anchor goals to the ground so they do not fall over and cause a serious injury or death. Illinois has recently enacted Zach's law, which requires all moveable soccer goals made or sold in Illinois to be tip-resistant.