I urge you and your agency to improve and mandate the current voluntary furniture tipping standard, ASTM-2057, immediately before more young children are killed needlessly. We have lost two young children recently in the Madison, Wisconsin area, and one young child in Oshkosh, Wisconsin since 2004. A three year old of Waunakee, Wisconsin was killed in December 2004 when his dresser tipped over on top of him. On Christmas Day 2005, another three year old child in our area from Mazomanie, Wisconsin died as a result of a furniture tipping accident in which a TV fell off a dresser on top of her. And in January 2006, a four year old from Oshkosh, Wisconsin died when a TV toppled over onto her.

Your agency's bulletin of January 2001 titled HIDDEN HAZARDS IN THE HOME: Furniture Can Tip Over On Children, indicates that 8,000 to 10,000 people, mostly children, are injured each year from furniture tipping accidents. That bulletin also indicates that 6 people, mostly young children, die each year. In September 2006, your agency indicated that the number of tv tip-over deaths during the first seven months of 2006 was twice the typical yearly average. It doesn't appear that allowing voluntary compliance is improving the situation; in fact, it is getting worse.

In addition, as electronic appliances such as TV's are getting larger, heavier, and more prone to instability, there are sure to be additional accidents claiming young lives. These large televisions can weigh well over 100 pounds. I ask you to make mandatory that furniture and electronic appliance makers include solid safety straps with all new products. These safety straps are currently very difficult to find in retail stores. Including safety straps and warnings with furniture and electronic appliances would not only raise awareness of this issue, but it would also enable people to more easily and immediately install these products in their homes.

Please act now make the current standard mandatory, as well as strengthen it, before we lose more precious children. Thank you on behalf of our nation's children and their families.