Letters: Tipping furniture is a huge danger for our kids. Get behind the STURDY Act

Stable furniture

A piece of furniture can tip over onto a child in seconds. Since 2000, at least 270 U.S. children have died after a furniture tip-over, with thousands more injured. Dressers are the deadliest, yet we lack any meaningful mandatory federal stability rules.

One of my own patients, Charlie Horn, a 2-year-old from Kansas City, died in 2007 when a dresser fell on him. I know firsthand the very real danger still in homes today, 13 years later.

A bill in Congress, the STURDY Act, would help keep children safe by requiring the Consumer Product Safety Commission to create strong rules for dressers that account for real-life scenarios. As a pediatrician, I know just how curious and active children are, and it shows in how they act with furniture. This is part of their normal development, and it should be reflected in stability testing for consumer products.

The STURDY Act has passed the House but still needs to pass the Senate. Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Roy Blunt of Missouri, who sit on the powerful Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, should champion the bill and help save children’s lives.

I ask all readers to join me by calling their senators and asking them to co-sponsor the STURDY Act.

- Harvey Grossman, Overland Park

The way to go

I vote yes on the naming of Volker Boulevard, Swope Parkway and Blue Parkway for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Sept. 16, 4A, “At KC parks board meeting, public weighs in on MLK Boulevard”) This is an excellent choice.

- Norman O. Besheer, Kansas City