According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), one child dies every 10 days from a furniture or TV tip-over, and a child is sent to the emergency room every 30 minutes.

Today, South Shore Furniture recalled over 300,000 units of their Libra style 3-drawer chests due to tip-over hazard. The CPSC reported that one child was injured, and another child died from the chest tipping over on them. View our statement on the chest recall here.

To combat the tip-over epidemic, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) recently introduced the Stop Tip-Overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act of 2019 (H.R.2211), as a much-needed step to prevent more children from being injured and killed by furniture tip-overs. The bill is currently (as of 5/9/19) co-sponsored by Reps. Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Robin Kelly (D-IL), James McGovern (D-MA), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-At Large), Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ), Bobby Rush (D-IL), and Darren Soto (D-FL).

The STURDY Act would require the CPSC to create a mandatory rule for free-standing clothing storage units to protect children from tip-over incidents. The rule would:

  • Cover all clothing units, even those under 30 inches
  • Require testing to simulate the weights of children up to 72 months of age
  • Require testing measures to account for scenarios involving carpeting, loaded drawers, and the dynamic force of a climbing child
  • Mandate strong warning requirements
  • Require the CPSC to issue the mandatory standard within one year of enactment

KID, along with our coalition of consumer and medical groups American Academy of Pediatrics, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Parents Against Tip-overs, and Public Citizen, released a joint press statement earlier this week as well as a letter to all members of Congress asking them to co-sponsor the STURDY Act.

Take a moment to call your Congressperson and ask them to co-sponsor the STURDY Act. Or if they’re already a co-sponsor, you can thank them for doing so.

To learn more about the STURDY Act, view our fact sheet.

Note: As of 7/1/19, additional co-sponsors are Reps. Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-CA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Angie Craig (D-MN), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Richard Neal (D-MA), and Kathleen Rice (D-NY).