Special Reports

9 Investigates: Window blinds dangerous to children on store shelves

By Scott Wickersham, wsoctv.com
By Scott Wickersham, wsoctv.com

Story highlights:

  • CPSC says 184 children have died in window blind cord accidents from 1996 to 2012
  • The Window Covering Manufacturers Association has fought against a proposed standard for their industry
  • Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart have all committed to eliminating corded blinds from their inventory by 2018

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As Lesly Arias leafs through baby pictures of her son Roberto, she comes to one from 2003, when he was 16 months old.

"This picture is the last picture, the same month he passed away” says Arias.

Roberto and his older sister, also a toddler, were playing one day.

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Lesly, in another room, didn't realize for several minutes that Roberto had become tangled in the cord of the window blinds, wrapped around his little neck.

He was suffocating.

They called 911 and tried to revive him, but Roberto died.

It's a tragic story that has played out all too often.

Nicci Walla was shooting video of her children playing in 2002, and noticed her son Gavin standing by the window. But he was actually tangled up in the blind cord, being strangled by it.

Thankfully, her son took a breath after his father performed CPR, but the Consumer Product Safety Commission says 184 children have died in similar accidents from 1996 to 2012.

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After her 1-year-old daughter was killed by window blind cords, Linda Kaiser formed a group called Parents for Window Blind Safety. She told ABC's Brian Ross why blinds without cords are so much safer.

"You can even take your finger and try to pull this inner cord out, but it's tight," Kaiser said.

  • PRESS PLAY to watch Scott's raw interview with ABC's Brian Ross:

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The Window Covering Manufacturers Association has fought against a proposed standard for their industry that would make the blind cords very short, or eliminate them.

And stores don't always tell customers about the danger.

One of our WSOC producers visited stores selling the blinds in Charlotte and asked if corded blinds were a hazard. One said no, but another clerk did warn that children could be injured by the cords.

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The Consumer Product Safety Commission is considering mandatory safety standards for blind manufacturers to get rid of or shorten the cords. Chairman Elliot Kaye says the window covering industry has been trying to mislead people about the danger.

"To try to convince people it's parents to blame,” says Kaye. “Parents are not to blame for this hidden hazard."

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Under new pressure, major retailers Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart have all committed to eliminating corded blinds from their inventory by 2018.

That is welcome news to Arias, who hopes her story will lead other parents to either remove the blinds or keep the cords up high where children can't reach them.

Speaking about her son Roberto, she says, "I think about him every day. I will probably think about him until I die."

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Read our past investigations:

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