[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 2]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR1306.4]

[Page 386-387]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
             CHAPTER II--CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
 
PART 1306--BAN OF HAZARDOUS LAWN DARTS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 1306.4  Findings.

    (a) The Commission has found that lawn darts are being distributed 
in commerce and present an unreasonable risk of injury.
    (b) The degree and nature of the risk of injury. (1) The risk that 
the Commission intends to address in this proceeding is that of puncture 
of the skulls of children caused by lawn darts being used by children. 
The potential for these devices to cause these types of injuries is not 
necessarily obvious to parents or other adults who might buy these items 
or allow their children to play with them, much less to the children 
themselves. This is because the tips do not appear sharp enough to 
present an obvious danger of puncture. The combined factors of weight, 
the narrow elongated shaft, the speed that the dart is traveling at the 
time of impact, and the thickness of the child's skull at the point of 
impact present the risk. The Commission has concluded that all lawn 
darts have the potential for skull puncture during reasonably 
foreseeable use or misuse.
    (2) Because all lawn darts are being banned, the elimination of lawn 
darts that can cause skull puncture injuries will also eliminate the 
punctures of other parts of the body, as well as the lacerations, 
fractures, and other injuries that have been associated with lawn darts 
in the past. The Commission's staff estimates that about 670 injuries 
from lawn darts are treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms per year. 
About 40 percent of these are puncture wounds. Approximately 57 percent 
of the injuries involved the head, face, eye, or ear. Approximately 4 
percent of the injured victims were hospitalized (on the average, 
approximately 25 per year), including all of the injuries reported as 
fractures. Over 75 percent of the victims were under age 15; about 50 
percent of the victims were under age 10. In addition, Commission 
records dating back to 1970 show that at least three children have been 
killed by injuries associated with lawn darts. These children were 4, 7, 
and 13 years old. In the 25 lawn dart injury reports for which 
information about the user of the lawn darts was available, the reports 
indicated that children were playing with the lawn darts, despite the 
ban and exemption which were developed to keep the product out of the 
hands of children.
    (c) Products subject to this ban. (1) Lawn darts are devices with 
elongated tips that are intended to be used outdoors and that are 
designed so that when they are thrown into the air they will contact the 
ground tip first. Often, lawn darts are used in a game where the darts 
are thrown at a target or other feature on the ground. The types of lawn 
darts that have generally been available in the past and that have 
demonstrated their ability to cause skull puncture injuries typically 
have a metal or weighted plastic body, on the front of which is an 
elongated metal shaft about \1/4\ inch in diameter. These darts have a 
shaft on the rear of the body containing plastic fins. These darts are 
about a foot in length and weigh about one quarter to one half pound. 
These darts are intended to stick in the ground when thrown. Prior to 
this rule, annual sales of these lawn darts were estimated at 1-1.5 
million units.
    (2) The definition for lawn darts in this rule is not intended to 
include arrows or horseshoes, nor is it intended to apply to indoor dart 
games that use a vertically-placed target, such as ``English darts'' or 
``American darts.''
    (d) The need of the public for lawn darts, and the effects of the 
rule on their utility, cost, and availability. The need of the public 
for lawn darts is for recreational enjoyment. Substitute recreational 
enjoyment can be obtained from other products. Lawn darts will not be 
available through commercial channels after the effective date of the 
ban.

[[Page 387]]

    (e) Alternatives. (1) The Commission considered various labeling 
requirements and limitations on the marketing of lawn darts that would 
be intended to discourage the marketing of the product to children and 
the use of the product by children. The Commission concluded, however, 
that these types of requirements would not preclude substantial use of 
the product by children and would not reduce adequately the risk of 
injury addressed by this rule.
    (2) The Commission also considered the possibility of performance 
requirements for lawn darts to determine which lawn darts present an 
unreasonable risk of injury of skull penetration to children, but such 
requirements were determined not to be feasible.
    (f) Conclusion. The Commission finds:
    (1) That this rule, including its effective date, is reasonably 
necessary to eliminate or adequately reduce the unreasonable risk of 
skull puncture wounds to children associated with lawn darts and will 
also eliminate or reduce the other injuries, including puncture wounds, 
that have been associated with this product.
    (2) That issuance of the rule is in the public interest.
    (3) That no feasible consumer product safety standard would 
adequately protect the public from the unreasonable risk associated with 
lawn darts.
    (4) That the benefits expected from this rule bear a reasonable 
relationship to its costs.
    (5) That the rule imposes the least burdensome requirement which 
prevents or adequately reduces the risk of injury for which the rule is 
being promulgated.