joining blame culture or genuine case?

[CurtainTwitcher]

On tuesday my DD3 was in shopping trolley which tipped over when my 3+4yr olds tried to stand on one side. The 4yr old did stand on it but 3yr old was just trying to. Between them they probably weigh around 4 1/2 stone. Anyways the trolley tipped over with DD3 sitting in the seat strapped in and resulted in her knocking her head on the floor. Obviously carted off by ambulance and spending around 30hrs on a ward due to them being concerned about bleeding on the brain.
Anyways since telling people when asking about huge bruising around 90% have said that they dont think the trolley should have tipped. The store have phoned last night and said they will be conducting an investigation with it being such a serious incident. So what I am asking is whether there is any responsibility with the store or whether it is just one of those things? I am wondering if people are all on this band wagon of claiming for money or it if it is something that shouldnt have happened considering how many children will be in the store probably doing similair.

the pictures link was for those who claim not to have seen the signs, whic are in ALL the trolleys, it was supposed to be helpful to all those on here who really seem tohave no idea what is and is not safe to do on a trolley, thats all

I think it's hard to see how the supemarket were lax in their responsibilities here.

I'm assuming trolley was in good state of repair, signs were up, floor not wet etc.

Accidents can happen even when all is being done to prvevent them.

I do see your point PeedOff, but I still think it's reasonable for the OP to consider whether the trolley should have tipped over and whether any responsibility for that lies with the store. I haven't seen any signs like the ones you posted in the UK ever - are you sure they are not US ones?

I admit i do get angry inside when I see parents NOT taking sensible precautions with their DC - trolleys may be just an evryday tool to you when shopping, but kids have died in falls and crush accidents, and all parents should be aware of the very real dangers. thes accidents are far more common than you might think as only the serious ones ever get reported

and this is NOT about me thinking i am better than anyone else - my kids have had their share of trips to A&E - whoever would have thought a screw would come lose on a baby musical toy and DS would swallow the tiny battery?

I think some are missing the point. We're not saying that children can be programmed for good behaviour or that they're always going to listen. We're also not saying that parents are perfect, of course we're not. But we ARE saying that when there is a repeated problem, such as the OP saying her children have to be told repeatedly not to climb on the trolley, then common sense should tell you something more needs to be done to prevent an accident, rather than just ineffectively continuing to warn them, which she had already noted was not solving the problem.

Accidents DO happen, but this one was preventable by the OP. She asked it any fault lay with the supermarket or if it was just one of those things. And it clearly wasn't either. It was a parenting lapse, as we also stated we all have from time to time. Hopefully, something will be learned from it. Thankfully, it sounds like her child will be okay.

Apparently it WAS necessary to post a link about the signs - as many were saying there weren't any - and they're everywhere at every supermarket I've ever been to. I imagine people see them all the time so don't even notice them anymore.

No-one's fault. Just an accident.

The way some of these posts read makes it sound that accidents only happen to children of irresponsible parents.

Hope your DD is ok now - must have been very scary for you.

electra i think they were from a US site yes, but the same sorts of signs, simple pics with big red X through them, are in UK trolleys too

I've definitely seen signs saying not to allow children to stand up in trollies, and not to allow children too old in them.

Cakeandroses - exactly, well said.

And thanks to Triggles for explaining how WE feel about THOSE irresponsible parents. Am firmly put in my poor parenting place with this insightful explantion-cum-reprimand. The phrase 'get a life' springs to mind.

Those signs are on trolleys of all the major stores in the UK; Asda, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Tesco etc

Proudnsad - LOL I would have to say the "get a life" might be better reserved for those that get a bit het up over semantics such as "we" instead of "I" being used, but then I imagine I'd offend another group, eh? No worries, as obviously I'm not the only one with time on my hands at the moment....

Going to have to hide the thread now as getting bored of banging my head against a wall on this one. If the concept isn't understood, no sense trying to spell it out further at this point.

(See, Peed? I can learn - stopped banging my head before I acquired a nasty bruise - so the owners of the wall can rest easy! LOL )

It was an accident

If people want to blame the store or the trolly then that will be wonderful. We can all turn up and sign our disclaimer before we are allowed one. Or they can refuse entry to children who are not harnmessed or some such. Or a few more 'had an accident and you were not tpo blame' shit head lawyers can spring up to make a buck out of every situation

As with every attempt to blame accidents on either ordinary people just getting on with life - or anyone seem as a corporation who are seen as fair game - the net result will be the curtailing of everyday life .

How often on here do we bemoan the stupid rules that are introduced and the red tape that gets in the way of every bloody thing. And this type of
'who should we blame' situation is the reason.

Don't blame anyone. It was an accident.

Thank christ the child is fine and get on with life

Kids do stupid shit, sometimes they get hurt doing stupid shit, you can't watch them every second but it is your fault if they get hurt on your watch.

At least they won't do it again. Hope baby is OK, don't sue the supermarket, just move on.

However, agree with previous poster if they offer vouchers/nappies or whatever is perfectly OK to accept them.

I'm very confused by the OP - sorry to hear about the accident - were the two older DC standing in the trolley? That's how I read it?

CT-not your fault at all-it was an accident and you feel awful.However it certainly wasnt the store's resposibility.If there was a 'fault' it was your dc for not doing as they were told.I bet they wont do that again and if they do try then a simple,'Remember!'should sort it.

Havent read all the thread as am far too

Sorry for your kids to have had a scare but YABVU.

I was at Tescos about a month ago and watched as a kid climbed up onto a trolley with a baby in the seat and I managed to run over and stop it falling over. No thanks kiss my arse or anything from the mum who just mumbled at the kid and then let him do it again.

You are well and truly on the blame train with this one but there is only yourself on it I'm afraid.

OK have calmed down a little, as you can see from above post I have seen this happen and to be frank it made me feel queasy at the thought of what might have happened if I wasnt quick enough (and now I know what might have happened)

Also I dont for one minute think my kid wont do stupid crap like this but I think this is just one of those things and maybe you are to blame a little for not keeping an eye on what your DCs were up to but I can understand how these things can happen so quickly and its impossible without eyes in the back of your head.....

CurtainTwitcher: For the safety of your children and for your own nerves.. PLEASE do online shopping. You can't allow that to happen again.

Hope your DC are all OK

I repeat for those who are adamant that they have not seen these signs where they shop, they are there. the shop does not want to be sued by somoen whose child had an accident because there was no warning saying dont climb on the trolley. advisiing us like this absolves them of any guilt in the event of an accident caused by overloading or inappropriate use.

I cannot help feeling that if this had been a parent posting about a MIL or childminder allowing this sort of thing to happen, there would have been an uproar of how dare they be so irresponsible with your child etc etc

now, OF COURSE we all feel some sympathy for the OP (and a bit of there but for the grace of God...) and are glad her DC were not more hurt, but that does not get her off the hook

She was the responsible adult present, and just as we should "blame" a childminder or grandparent for this happeneing, we also say, hang on, you must take the blame for this yourself

lol sandy what a farking cheek, ferral kids.

you really have no idea do you.

Im guessing your kids toddle on behond you in a duckling like fashion never daring to fall out of line.

I hope to god your children never gat an ounce of thier own mischief or inspiration....unlike my own and the OP's and probably a high % of the population's DC's.....ferral indeed, that is beyond ridiculous.

Dont dare come on here and ever say your child has done something out of turn or I shall raise your holier than thou quotation about good old fashioned parenting.....tell me do you use a wooden spoon or a belt??

Well, Sandy was right. If you let your children do whatever they want to do they are going to turn out a bit feral.

No sandy was generalising about children she knows nothing about...feral implies a careless attitude which could be nothing further from the truth...

There was no mention of letting the children do whatever they want to do and if you knew the op and her children you would not be so prescriptive in your definition of her children

stoppin - we've certainly had accidents with ds that we could have prevented. So I don't blame anyone but us, of course. Seems bleeding obvious to me. If you haven't got any common sense and you let your child clamber on supermarket trolleys, you are responsible if something goes wrong. If you have got common sense but just didn't notice then you'll probably be a bit more careful in future.

I had to point out the common sense bit to dh when I turned round to see ds licking rat poison. I was doing the washing up, toddler ds was on the floor but I was keeping any eye on him and turning round regularly. He had reached into a food cupboard while my back was turned. Shouldn't have been a problem beyond possibly making a darn mess emptying out all the cereal.

Only it turned out ruddy dh had found some rat poison under the fridge when we moved in and though, ooh, I know what to do with that, I'll shove it at the back of the food cupboard without telling my wife. (I'd never seen it because it was hidden by tall plastic sealed boxes containing things we don't use very often - in fact, never, but dh likes to hang onto stuff. Including rat poison, it turns out.)

No-one's fault but dh's. Fortunately ds was fine - we think he didn't actually eat any grains. But bloody hell, I had a few extra white hairs and wrinkles after that!

p.s. we've never seen any ruddy rats, or mice, I think the previous owners were as bad as dh at hanging onto stuff even if they didn't use or need it.

I have purchased trolleys when working for a supermarket and good well designed trolleys do not tip under the weight of small children. A child would need to be taller and heavier.

Although your DCs behaviour is not ideal it would be unreasonable to expect that young children would not do this.

I don't know about compensation but I think the store needs to look carefully at its choice of trolley.