Tragic

[ronhic]

This is so sad.....I really feel for the family....

....and I can understand the benefit of smaller doors on machines

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[ttuee2006]

That said...

The controls were only 20 inches from the floor? Perhaps I missed something more important?

Tragic indeed tho...

 

[rapunzel]

This story highlights one of the many reasons why I like rear-mounted and hidden controls, as well as dishwasher doors with latches. Pushbuttons and control knobs to major appliances should never be withing reach of curious little minds and hands.

 

[twinniefan]

Horror story

I agree with you Ronhic,what a terrible tragedy,just another reason to not leave electrical appliances switched on at the power point when not in use,also with a washing machine, have the water taps turned off if not in use.
Poor little angel.

 

[tuthill]

Imagine the horror of being that mother and walking in on this... makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[mielabor]

Don't you have to close the door first?

As far as I know every washing machine will only start when the door is properly closed and you have to apply quite some force to achieve that. I am surprised that a 15 months old child can do that. So, first the boy has closed the door and then pressed the start button? Hardly an accidental occurrence. Nevertheless, one cannot expect from a child of that age to foresee the consequences of his actions and the parents should have been more careful in switching off the machine. I am sure that they will feel guilty for this for the rest of their lives. Very sad indeed.

 

[alr2903]

It's not the machines its the parenting, while obviously a horrible mishap, toddlers have plunged into toploaders and drowned. Has anyone purchased a stove recently? You get a bracket to mount to the wall so if a kid stands on the oven door while the oven is open the stove won't tip over. No disrespect but if you have'em, watch'em. While accidents happen how many of us were raised in homes, and never drowned in the washer or were scalded because we turned the stove over? Still i am saddened for that poor child.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Oh that's horrible.

~Amormino said the machine's controls were only 20 inches from the floor and the start switch was a simple push button.
I'd like to see that machine. Makes no sense to me.

There is a great deal to be said for a simple wall switch that controls the outlet the machine is fed from.

Is it that difficult to lock the laundry room?

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[ronhic]

Toggleswitch2 said....

'There is a great deal to be said for a simple wall switch that controls the outlet the machine is fed from.'

...er....it has been illegal to install non-switched sockets in houses (or at least below certain heights) in Australia for probably 30-40yrs. My parents have 1 unswitched socket in their house (built 1968) and that is for an electric wall clock. The switch is located 8ft off the ground (6in below ceiling height)

http://www.hpm.com.au/Products.aspx?pid=20

 

[mielabor]

Switched sockets are unknown here, but you can always remove the plug or install an intermediate switch (Dutch: "doordrukstekker").

BTW My Asko has a main switch that is difficult to operate for small children.

 

[dnastrau]

Our Maytag Epic 9700 has a child lockout setting on the controls. With a 5-year-old in the house, we use it all the time.

God bless that poor family...

Andrew S.

 

[askomiele]

First of all it's a sad story and a horrible accident. Second, I've never heard stories about childern climbing in a washer (well untill recently european models had small doors). And third, there is a reason why there are ON/OFF buttons on washers. On of them is this. In normal conditions, a child have to manipulate the controls in a certain way.

What I do, just pull the cord out. And if its out of reach, (like inside my house, plug is behind the washer) I close the tap, so the washer won't do anything.

 

[nickuk]

I own a new Bosch UK machine,and one of the reasons it appealed to me was it's simplicity.

I must say, however, my 18 month old can drag a pile of dirty duds from the floor into the to drum, close the door, turn the program selector from off to any random cycle and hit start (a touch sensitive pad thing as opposed to a button). He has kind of observed the routine (ok, lots of times.....) It's quite scary. As with many UK kitchens the electrical cut off is fairly out of reach, but thankfully I can fully childlock the machine easily.

I was shocked like everyone else when I read this and my heart goes out to this family.

BUT my elder son is also 4, and there is NO WAY he could fit in a regular front loader, so this must have been some sort of commercial machine? I must say, I would also like to think that he would have the sense not to, but this sounds like smug parent bias.....surely educating kids about how things work and what's dangerous is kind of vital. Luke knows never ever to open the dishwasher and will happily discipline his younger brother if attempted! We have had horror stories here in the UK of toddlers falling into open dishwashers, straight onto knives loaded blade side up...ok I'm going to stop now because I'm getting tearful.

For this stuff to happen, as with certain other recent news stories involving toddlers, the kids were unsupervised and this is totally unacceptable. Looking after kids is 24/7. Get used to it, surely!

 

[passatdoc]

Looking at the controls for my washer (2140 Frigidaire), there is a child lock device activated by pushing the Options and Select button for about ten seconds. This then deactivates the controls until someone pushes the same buttons for another ten seconds to reactivate the control panel. The reason for such a long latency period must be to thwart young children who might touch the controls by accident but who would not hold the buttons in place for ten seconds.

http://ftp//ftp.electrolux-na.com/ProdInfo_PDF/Webster/134726200ef.pdf

 

[golittlesport]

controls 20 inches from floor??

I am not familiar with the Kenmore model involved in this tragedy, but I measured the controls on my Frigidaire and the start button is 32.5 inches from the floor. I've never seen a front loader with controls only 20 inches from the ground. Wonder if it is a typo?

I recall reading of a toddler drowning in a top load washer years ago. He managed to climb up on a chair to the top of the dryer next to the washer, opened the lid and fell in head first. The washer stopped with the lid open, but the poor child drowned in the 20 gallons of water in the tub.

I feel very sorry for the family. I had a near-death experience as a 2 year old with a wringer washer. My mom has said she will never erase the horrific image of seeing me being pulled into the wringer. She was six months pregnant and fell down the basement stairs trying to reach me. Thankfully she got to me in time and was not seriously injured herself. She still tells the story and said it is probably the most horrible event of her life.