According to a February 2009 report issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), drop-side cribs are responsible for more deaths than any other nursery product, a total of 90 deaths from 2003-2005, and are second among all categories in injuries with more than 11,000 estimated. The same report indicates that more than 4.2 million drop-side cribs were recalled from 2005 to 2008 from at least 14 different manufacturing companies.

Despite these statistics, an industry wide voluntary ban has not yet been enacted, prompting action by S.C. Leg. Wayne Hors- ley (D- Babylon) to ban the sale of deadly drop-side cribs in Suffolk County. Horsley’s bill (I.R. 1415), which was adopted unanimously, came after a series of news reports chronicled the deadly risk posed by drop-side cribs, the lackluster results of multiple product recalls, and slow-moving, industry-wide efforts to end manufacturing of the unsafe product, he said. Under the Horsley proposal, any infant crib that has three immovable sides with a fourth side that moves up and down shall be prohibited from retail sale in Suffolk County. The proposal is the first in the nation to ban the deadly design flaw.

“There is wide-agreement that the drop-side crib design is fatally flawed. Our message to child product manufacturers is stop wasting time,” said Horsley, “and stop cheating on our children’s safety. Enact a voluntary drop-side crib ban immediately that takes this deadly design out of retail stores.”

In the meantime, he said, Suffolk is proud to be the first municipality in the nation to ban this deadly design flaw that has long ago been proven dangerous and deadly.

The American Society for Test Materials (ASTM) International rulemaking process requires a unanimous vote from its 900-member committee to adopt industry-wide standards. Just one negative vote prevents immediate adoption. Currently, the ASTM reports that three negative votes have forced an appeals phase that will further delay the industry-wide phase-out of drop-side cribs. Furthermore, the voluntary ban being considered will only apply to newly made cribs, and therefore will not prevent the second hand sale of drop-side cribs.

“Few products are ever recovered in the event of a recall,” said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids In Danger (KID), “leaving millions of recalled items out there undetected in homes and childcare facilities.”

KID urges consumers to check their children’s products for recalled items, to make sure cribs and other children’s products are properly assembled to avoid other hazards and to report any problems with products to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the manufacwhen turer. If you find you have a recalled product, review the recall notice for instructions on how to comply with the recall.

KID is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting children by improving children’s product safety. KID was founded in 1998 by the parents of 16-month-old Danny Keysar, who died in his Chicago childcare home when a portable crib collapsed around his neck. It turned out that Danny was the fifth baby whose neck was caught between the top rails of such cribs they collapsed and was strangled death – five years after the product had been recalled. KID works to promote the development of safe sleep environments for children and to provide information to the public on sleep environment recalls and product safety.

“Child safety must be the first area of concern, and I commend Legislator Horsley for his proactive stance in this regard,” said S.C. Leg. John M. Kennedy Jr., (R-Nesconset), who chairs the Suffolk County Consumer Protection Committee. “It is critically important for parents and care-givers to know about this potential danger.

Testifying in favor of Horsley’s proposal were Robert and Susan Cirigliano, who lost their son Bobby to a drop-side crib malfunction on September 15, 2004. Susan Cirigliano said: “Bobby was six months and three days old when his head and neck were caught in the detached drop-side rail of his crib. After the drop side rail detached, Bobby’s head got caught between the side rail and mattress. With his face pressed against the mattress, he suffocated.” We are here today to support this bill and to ban the sale of drop-side cribs…We are sure lives will be saved.”