Latest Safety Panic: Televisions Falling on Children

29 people killed in 2011

Falling TV sets have killed more than 200 children since 2000, but parents remain largely unaware of the danger, say reports out today.

An update from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission shows 29 people, mostly children, were killed by falling TVs in the USA in 2011 alone, making it one of the worst years on record for such tragedies. And 18,000 people a year, mostly children, are treated for injuries from falling TVs, the commission says.

It's happening despite the widespread switch to lighter flat-screen TVs. In fact, safety experts say the switch may be making the problem worse as consumers take old, heavy sets out of their family rooms and put them atop unstable bedroom dressers and playroom shelves.