Killer Weed Trimmer Head Recalled
An attachment for gas-powered weed trimmers has been pulled off the market after a child was killed and more than 40 others were reportedly injured by the attachment. Ann Brown, the chairman of the Consumer Products Safety Commission, spoke to Early Show Anchor Bryant Gumbel about the recall May 3 from her Washington lawn.
The weed trimmer is not the problem, Brown says. It's an attachment made for the trimmer. "This is what you've seen on late-night TV. It is a replacement head for the weed trimmer," Brown says. "The problem is that most weed trimmers have nylon string that cuts the weeds. But this one unfortunately has metal chains, and the metal chains are where the real problem is."
What can occur when someone attaches that Weed Wizard to the weed wacker? "What happens is a piece of the metal chain, when the chain is being used, can fly off. It becomes a piece of flying shrapnel," says Brown. "It goes through the air at about 238 miles per hour, and it can strike an innocent bystander and cut through skin and bone."
Brown describes the injuries linked to these Weed Wizards so far: "We've had a terrible tragedy, a death of a 3-year-old little girl in Alabama, who was playing on her swingset while her father was using the Weed Wizard, and she was struck in the temple....The metal chain went through her brain and lodged in her brain. And she subsequently died."
There also have been more than 40 injuries reported. That long injury list was tallied before the recall. "We first found out through an alert attorney, Sam Cherry in Alabama, about the death. And then we had to do detective work to unearth these injuries," Brown says.
The current manufacturer of Weed Wizard products, Weed Wizard Acquisition Corp., of Bradley, Mich., "voluntarily recalled" about 2.7 million Weed Wizard trimmer heads equipped with metal chains and approximately 857,000 trimmer replacement chain sets, according to the commission. The items have been pulled from the shelves and are no longer being manufactured. "The important thing is to get them out of people's homes, off of your lawns and out of your garages," Brown says.
The chairman explains it is not difficult for a consumer to replace the Weed Wizard with a new and safer attachment: "Call Weed Wizard," she says of the manufacturer, which has a toll-free number, 888-810-7536. "And (it) will send you these new plastic blades. Nothing can spin off of them. You put them on, and they are not difficult to put on. And you can safely trim your weeds."
Consumers can resume using the original nylon string attachment. "It's only the ones with these metal chains that were so lethal," Brown says. There's nothing wrong with the weed wacker; only the Weed Wizard attachment must be replaced. "So you will be able to garden safely," she says.