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CPSC
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday recalled 21,000 inflatable Banzai in-ground pool water slides.
After investigating the death of a 29-year-old woman and severe injuries in two other consumers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled 21,000 inflatable Banzai in-ground pool water slides.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Toys R Us, Inc., have agreed to offer full refunds for the slides that are returned to them.
The CPSC determined that the slides were defective and could deflate suddenly, allowing the user to crash to the ground. The commission also found that the slide is unstable and can topple over in both still and windy conditions.
At the heart of the investigation was the death of Robin Aleo, a Colorado mom who had been visiting relatives in Andover, Mass. During a pool party on July 29, 2006, Aleo, the mother of an 18-month-old girl, climbed to the top of the 6-foot-high Banzai Falls slide and then started sliding down head first, according to a report in the Merrimack Valley Eagle-Tribune.
As Aleo neared the bottom, the slide deflated and she struck her head on the edge of the pool. Her neck was broken and she was paralyzed and unable to breathe, according to the Eagle-Tribune. She died the following day at a Boston hospital.
Aleo’s family sued Toys R Us and a jury returned a $20.6 million verdict after less than an hour of deliberation, the Eagle Tribune reported.
The CPSC also knew of two other cases: a 24-year-old man from Springfield, Mo., who became a quadriplegic and a woman from Allentown, Pa., who fractured her neck after slide deflations.
The recall is for Banzai in-ground pool water slides. The vinyl slides have a blue base, yellow sliding mat and an arch going over the top of the slide. By connecting a hose to the top of the slide, water can be sprayed on its downward slope. The words “Banzai Splash” are printed in a circular blue, orange and white logo that is shaped like a wave and appears on both sides of the slide.
The recalled slides, which were manufactured in China by Manley Toys, Ltd, were sold at Wal-Mart and Toys R Us from January 2005 through June 2009 and were priced around $250. They have a barcode number 2675315734 and a model number 15734. While those numbers both were on the original package, they do not appear on the slides themselves.
While the CPSC began its investigation based on the three incidents, it’s not uncommon for more people to come forward with reports after a recall is announced, said Alex Filip, a spokesman for the CPSC.
“People sometimes attribute failures to poor maintenance or something they did wrong and if they’re not hurt, they may not report it," Filip said.
The CPSC urges consumers to immediately stop using the product and bring it to the nearest Toys R Us or Wal-Mart for a refund. Consumers don’t need to bring the entire pool. They can just cut out the two safety warning notices out of the slide and return those for a refund.
Filip warned people not to be lulled into a false sense of security because their slide hasn’t given them any problems yet.
“You could play on it all day Saturday and then the kids go out on Sunday and get hurt,” he said. “It’s dangerous. You need to do what’s best for your family. Just bring it back and you’ll get your money back.”
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Why any American would buy something with "Banzai" in the name? I guess they know nothing of WWII and/or do not have a male ancestor who fought in the Pacific. There isn't one single thing funny about the "Banzai" cry even 67 years after the war's end.
Get a life, Herr Schroeder. Banzai!
By the way, look up the word. Educate yourself.
i didn't know a 29 year old could go down that slide
i just thought it was made for little kids
i don't know
If you can afford an in ground spend a little more and put a real slide in....
After a quick survey of the comments - some 75% are ranting about "quality products" from china and bringing jobs back to america (like we'll make much better inflatable slides) - while only 25% think the woman was at fault. I think it was the woman; I grew up with much more dangerous toys, with no warning labels and I am still alive; got a few scrapes along the way, to which my folks said "don't be stupid next time".
Regardless of fault, a $20M is ridiculous; this comes from the major flaw in our legal system - lawyers are paid a commission! Because $450/hr isn't enough for them. So lets say you're a lawyer - would you like to get paid 20% of $20K, or 20% of 20M? This has caused these "punitive damage" hikes, which causes higher prices for everyone.
In case you didn't read between the lines, that jury was FURIOUS!
If this makes Big-Box stores think a little more about what they make money selling, then it's a good thing.
Tim,
If the big box stores are liable for design and manufacturing defects on products they resell, so would mom-and-pop stores.
Obviously your local mom-and-pop hardware store can't test every product they sell for safety (probably running tens of thousands of dollars or more per product). There would be no mom-and-pop stores left -- just WalMart, Home Depot, McDonalds (for fast food), and Olive Garden (for fine dining).
Be careful what you wish for.
It's true our government consistently kowtows to small businesses via regulatory subsidies (for example, see the exemption for small business in the ACA). However, I don't think it would be politically viable to exempt them from liability -- the news story would read "One person who bought product X from WalMart and died from a defect got $20M dollars, another person who bought product X from Joe's Toy Store and died from a defect had no recourse because Joe's Toy Store had only ten employees.
I agree, except for the part about Olive Garden being "fine dining"! lol
Wal Mart, China, Stupid people. repeat as necessary. Why can't you make anything idiot proof????. Because idiots are so darn clever..............................Oh yeah 6 years to recall the product?????? DUH??????? Working at the speed of Gubmint........
If you knew that it happened right in front of the child (which it did), would that make it relevant?
Nope. It doesn't matter if the child witnessed it or not. Twenty million for someone's utter stupidity is far too much.
You're a swell human being. Read the regulations on pool slides - which have been around since the 70s. For a pool slide to even satisfy federal law, a human being has to slide down the thing (during testing) head-first several times. And he or she has to be delivered into the pool at a specified attitude, so he or she won't break their neck on the bottom of the pool. This is all incredibly well-known, but completely ignored in this case. How much would you like for your own brilliance and acumen?
I was at that pool party, I was the one that popped the slide! I laughed the rest of the day GWAHAHAHAHAHA!
It was hilarious watching her flop around wildly trying to get out from under the popped slide. Luckily she finally calmed down and stopped moving. Glad everything worked out okay..
As usual, another "half of the story" article by the media. Who designed the product? Why did the product fail? Did a seam break? Did the glue/sealer give way? Did the inflation plug pop out? How was it inflated and implaced? Did anyone read the directions for use? Why did the stupid woman go down the slide face first? And how many times did she go, & which ever way? Reminds me of the California case holding a bike manufacturer liable for a $2M award because they did not put a warning label on the bike that told the consumer it was more dangerous to ride a bike at night than in the daytime. The American way...be stupid, act stupid, and you or your estate/family will be paid.
They couldn't FIND the designer. Kindly reserve adjectives like "stupid" for people who make things up out of thin air.
Don't see that they could not find the designer in the story. Patent office checked for patent info on the unit? Do you suppose they included the relatives who set it up as defendants in the lawsuit? If you are going to beat on Toys R Us for not doing their part, how about the owners for not warning the slider not to use it face first, or that it is for kids use; or for under-inflating the slide, if that could have been an issue [remember all the car crashes from under inflated tires on SUV's] or over-inflation causing seams to destruct when 150 pound adult bounded down the slide? There are a slew of issues that aren't discussed or mentioned in the story, that should have been.
You're assuming way too much responsible behavior on the part of the manufacturers here. I'm guessing that you expect it because that's what the manufacturers ought to do. Welcome to the post-regulatory world.
Patents? Reasonable instructions? Wish that were true.
I bought one a few years back and my kids wore it out in one summer playing on it. The seams literally came undone and the fabric just worn away, it would not hold air anymore. I tried patching efforts and it would just rip open again and again.
I finally just threw it away.
Big waste of money.
A simple slip and slide took it's place for a lot less.
Looks like the dead or injured are all adults. Maybe it is a kiddy slide.
In almost no case do I see why the retailer is liable - each retailer can't safety test every product they sale. Should Safeway, for example, be held liable if Chicken-of-the-Sea ships a few cans of tuna with a deadly bacteria in it and a Safeway shopper buys it and dies? Should Safeway open every can of tuna and subject it to a full array of tests before selling it? That would result in something that wasn't "canned" anymore so has a shelf life of, at most, a few days (refrigerated) which would negate the notion of "canned" tuna. There would only be .1 oz of tuna out of the 7 oz can left (the rest being consumed by the testing process) and it would cost tens of dollars (to pay for all the testing for all sorts of harmful bacteria and harmful chemical contaminants).
Even making retailers responsible only for design defects in products they sell (ignoring manufacturing defects as in my canned tuna case) could drive every small retailer out of business - your local hardware store can't test the design of every bolt, sprinkler, heater, extension cord, and xmas tree stand they sell and remain in business. We would be left with only Home Depot and Lowes (who could raise their prices to pay for testing and/or insurance and only raise prices by a modest amount, maybe 20%, by amortizing those costs across many unit sales?) or WalMart and Target (similar price/cost issues of course as the home improvement example). Even the big retailers would have to cut selection down because they would have to include the amortized cost of testing over all the units sold, only the top selling version of each product would survive on the shelf.
I've not been able to find a copy of the instruction manual online for this product. IF, as is speculated here (and as seems likely), the manual warns against sliding down head first and/or use by people over a certain age or weight (and assuming those injured were above those limits), I don't see how the manufacturer is liable. This sure looks like a toy that no reasonable person would expect to meet the requirements for a rigid playground slide.
However, I can see how the owner of the product would be liable. The owner had access to the warning information if they were the original purchaser. If they were not the original purchaser and purchased the product second hand, they should not have bought it without making sure all the safety instructions were included. As guests at a pool party can't reasonably be expected to have access to such instructions, the product owner who allowed irresponsible use of the product should be liable. Of course, if a reasonable person wouldn't slide down a slide head first or would look at the product and would realize that it was meant for kids, then only the idiot injured is liable for their own reckless behavior.
Resellers are responsible for ensuring that the products they sell meet US regulatory requirements. That does not mean they need to perform the required testing but they need to do enough research to confirm that the testing was done and US standards were met. In this case the retailer didn't do that.
So, whatever happened to Wal-Mart selling only American made products. Sam is turning over in his grave.
At first I thought it read 'BLOW UP DOLLS' were recalled. PHEW!!!
bonzai danielson!!!
Glad I didn't buy one. Saved only by my cheapness and refusal to spend the outrageous amount of money they wanted for an inflatable slide that inevitably would get a hole in it. My condolences for those hurt or killed by this product and their families and friends
Common sense would seem to dictate that an adult shouldn't use a child's toy or this could be the result. In any case, get ready for the lawsuits to erupt over this
It took 6 years to figure this out. Great work!!
So sad that these terrible accidents happened. But please, a little common sense on the part of users. What rational sober adult would go down a slide head first and hope their head, neck, spine could absorb any sudden impact? Also, who in their right mind would put such a piece of crap in their pool? It looks like an accident waiting to happen.
"Consumers don’t need to bring the entire pool." Dang, NOW you tell me. LOL, DUH
Any of you ever notice that unless a product is perfect, flawless, and one million percent guaranteed to never hurt anyone, that it can never be sold in the USA? At this rate, we'll all be playing with sticks and dirt by the year 2050.
Except that sticks can poke your eyes out and dirt can carry germs. We'll just be twiddling our thumbs.
Probably best if not combined with alcohol at pool parties.
Got to love those Chinese products. We B Toys is all but out of business but Wal-Mart is notorious for poisoning all of us with their Chinese products.
My deepest sympathies to the woman''s family, but c'mon, what was the woman doing sliding down it head first - on an inflatable device that could have deflated at any moment from a mere blackout that would have turned off the blower. What the article doesn't highlight is that very point, that the unit functioned just like a professional inflatable - it uses a powerful fan to inflate the device and keep it inflated. Turn off the power or lose the intake and down it goes. We had exactly the same unit, used it for a couple of years until we bought a house with a pool, and our kids had a wonderful time on it. At no stage were they ever allowed to go down it head first or undertake any kind of hazardous behavior - on top of which we ALWAYS set it up on the lawn, not a concrete driveway, to minimize the risk of injury. Now another American company has to suffer for the country's predatory ambulance-chasing legal system and the fact that no one is ever willing any more to accept responsibility for their own actions - thanks to the legal profession. You ever want to figure why the U.S.A. has gone to the dogs go no further than lawyers and how much they've undermined all the values this country once prized so highly.
I had a bonzai slide very like this one a few years ago for my grandchildren. It was a bit larger....I am 62 y's old...5'2", and weigh 120. I slid on ours with my 20 m.o. granddaughter so that she could enjoy it also. Thank goodness it never deflated, and when I deflated it manually, it took many minutes to do so. The weight limit on ours was at least 250 lbs. Anyway, I know many children that are larger than I am. I disagree heartily with remarks about people using their brains about this sort of thing....the damn thing was faulty. PERIOD.
Banzai!!!! Seems I heard that word before. Oh yeah right before the kamakazie pilots would hit a ship.