Peloton pushes back against a request from federal regulators to revoke his career + after the product was involved a child’s death last month, the Washington Post report Friday.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which investigated Shortly after the incident, it plans to issue a new consumer safety warning as soon as this Saturday outlines the potential dangers of the Peloton Tread +, according to officials who spoke to the outlet on condition of anonymity. Peloton reportedly halted these efforts, negotiating with regulators on the wording and timing of a consumer warning and asking if a full recall was even necessary.
Peloton, a billion-dollar exercise equipment maker and media company, came under fire last month after CEO and co-founder John Foley posted. a letter to the company’s website about the child’s death, calling it a ‘tragic accident’. He further announced that Peloton is aware of a small handful of incidents with the tread + where children have been injured ‘, and reiterated the product’s safety instructions warning users to keep children and pets away from Peloton equipment at all times. .
Earlier this week, regulators issued an administrative subpoena to force a reluctant peloton to continue information about the child who died when regulators continued their investigation into what exactly went wrong, officials said. The Post’s sources said that the CPSC had found “dozens” of incidents with Peloton’s careers. These include reports of users experiencing injuries such as broken legs and head trauma after being trapped under the equipment.
“This is not happening with other careers,” one official with knowledge of the case told the Post. “This is a different pattern of danger than is usually seen.”
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As noted by Bloomberg, the CPSC again received a worrying report on treadmill + in February when a three-year-old boy sustained a “significant brain injury” after being pulled under the treadmill. When his father discovered him, the child was not breathing and had to breathe again. the report. The child was also found with “tread marks on his back that matched the slats of the treadmill, neck injury and petechiae on his face, presumably due to the closure of the blood flow.”
According to officials with whom the Post spoke, based on the number of accidents and the severity of the injuries reported, CPSC staff decided to recommend that Peloton issue a product safety recall.
However, Peloton disagrees and argues that the misuse is to blame for these incidents rather than the design of the product.
Peloton ‘does not believe a recall is needed’, a company spokesperson said in a statement to the Post, adding that the Tread + ‘is safe to use if the warnings and safety instructions we provide are followed . ‘
It should be noted that Peloton may also be fighting for a recall due to timing, as it’s budget treadmill model will be sold next month. While the Tread + costs $ 4,295, this new model has a price tag of about half the price of $ 2,495. The issuance of a safety recall for one of the careers just a few weeks before it is re-launched could have consumer confidence and negatively impact sales. (It’s clear that the profit of a business should never come before consumer safety, but hey, it is capitalism for you).
Peloton did not immediately respond to a request from Gizmodo, but we will surely update this blog. A company spokesman made the following statement to the edge:
We are disappointed that the CPSC characterizes the situation incorrectly. The Peloton Tread + is safe to use at home when used as directed and in accordance with our warnings and safety instructions. As a reminder, the treadmill + is not for children under 16, and children, pets and objects should always be kept off the treadmill +. Peloton is 100% committed to the safety of our members and we will always be willing to work with the CPSC to implement effective safety measures. When the treadmill + is not used, members should continue to follow the safety instructions by keeping the safety key, which keeps the treadmill + in operation, away from the treadmill + and out of reach of children.
The Tread + is not Peloton’s first product with which users have experienced serious problems. Last year, the company recalled for clamp pedals which can break down unexpectedly during use, causing lacerations and other injuries. The recall affected an estimated 27,000 bicycles.