TIL miniblinds with pull cords to raise and lower them are now illegal to sell in the United States
TIL miniblinds with pull cords to raise and lower them are now illegal to sell in the United States
Replacing a broken set of blinds in my house and apparently no one sells the old standard kind where you pull the cord to raise them, I guess because kids and/or pets could tangle in the cord? Bit of an education in miniblinds today.
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I used to think it was "only" toddlers. Tragic stories of 12 year olds dying from the pull cords. Fucking horrible.
12 year olds
How in tf‽
11 was when I learned to masturbate. 12 was when I first heard the term "autoerotic asphyxiation". I very well could have been a statistic...
I haven’t thought about a strangle-wank for ages.
The ol' choke and stroke
Don't get Carradined away.
Climb on couch to get at cord. Fall. Cord wraps around neck.
A little pull and tug with a bit of airway constriction?
Ooh, an interrobang
Am I misunderstanding what pull cords are, or why not have it so the two strings can separate easily? The two strings in my blinds "snap" together so that it's easy to raise/lower the blinds, but the strings separate very easily from each other if applying force in any other kind of way (would be impossible for a child to accidently hang themselves with it for example)
It's not just going between the cords. There's also a problem that under the wrong circumstances, the cord can whip around the neck and become tangled on the tassel, around the neck.
I'm going to need to see a reenactment or video before I believe this.
The strings come off the "screwed in" part?
I don't think politicians came up with the new design, but embraced the new design. This has been an issue for decades and the ban is newin USA.
I know a family whose baby hung themselves on the cord. Must be common enough that they just banned them.
So make it two chords instead of a loop. Problem solved.
Take two pieces of string with wooden knobs at the ends and hang them up together.
Put your arm between them and pull down quickly.
Repeat, and notice how a fraction of the time those wooden knobs may wrap around each other and become tied by a knot held by the downward force of your arm until you pull up which you can't do if you're hanging.