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Rash of Child Deaths from Tipping TVs: Opportunity or Leave it Alone?
Five children in the Chicago area died recently from TVs tipping over and crushing them. Is it too crass for an integrator to market flat-panel mount safety to the public?
It can backfire on an integrator if he tries to take advantage of a tragedy, a dilemma alarm dealers run into quite often. Should they blanket an area with fliers after a home invasion robbery or worse? Of course, it's logical for a dealer to market to those neighborhoods because they usually have a heightened awareness about security. Is putting a security system in a home "crass" because the homeowner has been previously burglarized?
Integrators in the Chicago area have a similar question to ask themselves. A rash of tipping flat panel TVs grimly killed five children in the area in just a four-month span. On Feb. 8, for example, a 2-year-old girl was severely injured from the same type of incident.
The incidents sparked the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a "Valentine's Day warning" to parents to secure their TVs to "protect a child." The CPSC says from 2000 to 2010, 169 children died after TVs fell on them. (It is unknown if these were flat panels or old tube TVs.) The CPSC even held a live Twitter chat on the subject last week.
Do these tragedies and this warning represent an opportunity for integrators to market the ability to safely wall-mount a flat panel, or at minimum install anchors or tie-downs?
Integrators in the Chicago area have a similar question to ask themselves. A rash of tipping flat panel TVs grimly killed five children in the area in just a four-month span. On Feb. 8, for example, a 2-year-old girl was severely injured from the same type of incident.
The incidents sparked the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a "Valentine's Day warning" to parents to secure their TVs to "protect a child." The CPSC says from 2000 to 2010, 169 children died after TVs fell on them. (It is unknown if these were flat panels or old tube TVs.) The CPSC even held a live Twitter chat on the subject last week.
Do these tragedies and this warning represent an opportunity for integrators to market the ability to safely wall-mount a flat panel, or at minimum install anchors or tie-downs?
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About the Author
Jason Knott, Editor, CE Pro
Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990. He joined EH Publishing in 2000, and before that served as publisher and editor of Security Sales, a leading magazine for the security industry. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He is currently a member of the CEDIA Education Action Team for Electronic Systems Business. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California.
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