San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog
Every Fourth of July, people are needlessly injured to accidents involving Fireworks. Some of the injuries that occur are due to fireworks were improperly manufactured. In such cases the manufacturer, the distributer and the vendor of the fireworks each could be liable. According a report put out U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 2006, among different types of fireworks, firecrackers were associated with the greatest number estimated injures. Following firecrackers, rockets and sparklers were next. Sparklers accounted for one-third of all injuries to children under 5. Approximately half the estimated sparkler injuries involved the hands and fingers. The data also shows that typical causes of injuries were the following: 1.) misuse of fireworks, 2.) fireworks exploding earlier or later than expected, 3.) errant flight paths, 4.) sparks or debris from fireworks igniting fires 5.) other malfunctions. Another highlight from the report states that the parts of the body most often injured were hands, eyes and the head, face and ear. More than half of the injuries were burns. Burns were the most common injury to all parts of the body except the eyes and head areas, where contusions, lacerations, and foreign bodies in the eye occurred more frequently. There were 11 deaths and 9,000 injuries reported that year.
Here at the Brod Law Firm we have simple advice for staying safe this 4th of July holiday: if you want to see fireworks explode, leave that to the professionals. If you simply must buy and use your own, check with local authorities to see which are legal to use. Also be sure to check if any are on a recall list put out by www.recalls.gov. Most importantly, use extreme caution when using any form of explosive device. Protect your hands, eyes and head and keep children at safe distance from any fireworks or sparklers. Don’t have your Fourth of July holiday turn into a tragedy.