WallyWorld Accused of Selling "Death Trap" Bicycles

GaryG said:

The lawsuit claims Wal-Mart and Dynacraft have sold millions of "death
trap"
bicycles with quick-release front wheels that were manufactured in
China.
The bikes were imported by Dynacraft and shipped to Wal-Mart stores
unopened
and unchecked for essential components."

You mean you can't trust your kids lives to a $50 Chinese bicycle
assembled
by a minimum wage teenager with no training? What a shock!!

I don't doubt that the bikes are junk, but the lawsuit looks like a
travesty as well. As far as I can tell, it is based on failure to include
a warning that "Correct adjustment of the axle nuts or quick release
levers is vitally important to avoid an accident caused by loose wheels."
That's true of good bikes and bad bikes, and while I suppose a warning
makes sense, it's pretty self-evident. Lack of such a warning doesn't
really make a bike a death trap.

--
Paul Turner

"GaryG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You mean you can't trust your kids lives to a $50 Chinese

bicycle assembled

Quoted message said:

by a minimum wage teenager with no training? What a shock!!

Here's my favorite quote from the news story:

"Generally, we are only going to sell products that we feel
are safe," Whitcomb said from the chain's headquarters in
Bentonville, Ark.

"Generally"? That's reassuring.

"Gooserider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Mike Kruger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:1108864128.66ec2587357d0c5ded3e04955d65f758@teranews...

Quoted message said:

"GaryG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You mean you can't trust your kids lives to a $50 Chinese

bicycle assembled

Quoted message said:

by a minimum wage teenager with no training? What a shock!!

Here's my favorite quote from the news story:

"Generally, we are only going to sell products that we feel
are safe," Whitcomb said from the chain's headquarters in
Bentonville, Ark.

"Generally"? That's reassuring.

Where did parents get kids' bicycles before Wal Mart? I was a kid in the
70s, and I remember a couple of el cheapos before I got my first Schwinn.
One even had hard plastic tires. I had a chopper from Sears, but I don't
think the quality was very good at all.

My dad bought my first bike, a Schwinn, at a hardware store in the late 40s.
I don't remember too many bike shops. I know there wasn't one in our town.

"GaryG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Who knew?
http://www.marinij.com/Stories/0,1413,234~24407~2712359,00.html
"A lawsuit filed yesterday accuses San Rafael-based Dynacraft Industries
Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of conspiring to sell bicycles they know are
defective and have caused injuries.
The lawsuit was filed in Marin Superior Court on behalf of nine children
from throughout the nation who were injured when the front wheel of the
Next
brand bicycles they were riding detached, sending them over the handle
bars.
The lawsuit claims Wal-Mart and Dynacraft have sold millions of "death
trap"
bicycles with quick-release front wheels that were manufactured in China.
The bikes were imported by Dynacraft and shipped to Wal-Mart stores
unopened
and unchecked for essential components."
You mean you can't trust your kids lives to a $50 Chinese bicycle
assembled
by a minimum wage teenager with no training? What a shock!!
GG

I think it is another example of parents not checking the bicycle out
frequently to ensure it is OK to ride.
They just assumed it was setup from the store, no one checked any of the
fasteners or QR's or nuts and bolts to
make sure they were tight. So they blame some company with deep pockets for
their own stupidity or lazyness.
Just recently I saw a neigborhood kid riding a bike with the front QR
spinning around or flopping around loosely on the hub.
So I got the kid to stop so I could tighten it for him plus other things too
(everything was about to fall off of the bike),
and I adjusted his seat higher too. It makes you wonder what the parents are
doing, maybe waiting for an accident so they could sue too?

Mike Kruger said:

"GaryG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

You mean you can't trust your kids lives to a $50 Chinese

bicycle assembled

Quoted message said:

by a minimum wage teenager with no training? What a shock!!

Here's my favorite quote from the news story:

"Generally, we are only going to sell products that we feel
are safe," Whitcomb said from the chain's headquarters in
Bentonville, Ark.

"Generally"? That's reassuring.

Have you ever given a deposition? I had to once and our lawyers told me
to always try to think about every single word I said before I said it.
Obviously, Whitcomb was winging it. You're right. If someone says
that generally the company sells safe products, the other lawyers' next
response would be something like "All right, tell us all the times when
you did not sell a safe product, Mr. Whitcomb."

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 05:22:38 -0600 in rec.bicycles.misc, "Earl

Bollinger said:

I think it is another example of parents not checking the bicycle out
frequently to ensure it is OK to ride.
They just assumed it was setup from the store, no one checked any of the
fasteners or QR's or nuts and bolts to
make sure they were tight. So they blame some company with deep pockets for
their own stupidity or lazyness.

ah...no. when a product is sold for an intended purpose, the
uniform commercial code says that there is an implied warranty
that it will be safe when correctly used as intended.

the customer is *not* required the check that the store assembled
by bicycle correctly, as the law requires. it's the store's job
to ensure that they are safe when they leave the store.

deep pockets have nothing to do with it.

"Gooserider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Where did parents get kids' bicycles before Wal Mart?

WIWAK, there was a Schwinn store downtown. It was where you bought your
Schwinn or had it repaired. Our family couldn't afford a Schwinn. I remember
turning the pages of the Schwinn catalog as a kid, looking at all the bikes
I would never get: cool banana seat bikes, the Varsity, even a weird trike
for adults in the back.

I had an apple green Huffy through most of elementary school. I don't know
where it came from, as it was a present in the 2nd grade. It was a three
speed -- three speeds were not *quite* enough to make it up the hill from my
fencing class. Sometimes I ride that same hill with my current bike, and I
still have to put it into the granny gear to get up that slope.

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

: Where did parents get kids' bicycles before Wal Mart? I was a kid in the
: 70s, and I remember a couple of el cheapos before I got my first Schwinn.
: One even had hard plastic tires. I had a chopper from Sears, but I don't
: think the quality was very good at all.
:
I remember Western Auto selling kids' bikes here in Texas. And Montgomery
Ward, of course (as well as Sears Roebuck).

Pat
:

GaryG said:

...
The lawsuit claims Wal-Mart and Dynacraft have sold millions of

"death trap"

Quoted message said:

bicycles with quick-release front wheels that were manufactured in

China.

Quoted message said:

The bikes were imported by Dynacraft and shipped to Wal-Mart stores

unopened

Quoted message said:

and unchecked for essential components."

You mean you can't trust your kids lives to a $50 Chinese bicycle

assembled

Quoted message said:

by a minimum wage teenager with no training? What a shock!!

GG

It seems to me we don't know enough about this lawsuit to comment. Was
there really something defective about the quick releases? Or did this
lawyer simply scour the country, find nine kids who didn't operate the
quick release properly, and use them to justify an attempt at quick
cash?

I'm afraid the very term "quick release" is going to be used to get
large awards out of ignorant juries. So few people understand them.

Recently, a licensed Professional Engineer I know showed me a bike that
he was asked, by a lawyer, to write a report on. The engineer was very
scornful of the design - a low end mountain bike that had lost its
front wheel in a jump, causing the kid to scratch up his face when he
went over the bars.

So I showed the engineer how the quick release was _supposed_ to work -
and he was amazed. When checking out the bike, he'd been spinning it
like a wing nut, just as the kid had probably done. Unfortunately,
he'd already written his report. OTOH, it may not matter much, because
the kid and his family had packed up suddenly and moved out, leaving no
forwarding address.

I _do_ wonder if quick release axles should be installed only as
_options_ on low-end bikes. It's clear that the average American
doesn't have the minimal mechanical aptitude to figure them out.

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Gooserider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Where did parents get kids' bicycles before Wal Mart?

Point of disinterest: I have never in my life been in a Wal-Mart store -
though that may change Wal-Mart finally won a decade long battle to force
the city to rezone a site so they will be building one. the thing stopping
them now is if the store unionizes.

When they weren't second-hand my first bike[s] came from Canadian Tire or
Sears - those groovy 70's banana seat bikes.

Ahhhh..... nostalgia.

I think my first ten-speed was a Crappy Tire CCM.

--
'If there's one thing this country needs,
it's more lawyers
Can you imagine a world without lawyers?
*shudder* -Lionel Hutz

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

GaryG said:

...
The lawsuit claims Wal-Mart and Dynacraft have sold millions of

"death trap"

Quoted message said:

bicycles with quick-release front wheels that were manufactured in

China.

Quoted message said:

The bikes were imported by Dynacraft and shipped to Wal-Mart stores

unopened

Quoted message said:

and unchecked for essential components."

You mean you can't trust your kids lives to a $50 Chinese bicycle

assembled

Quoted message said:

by a minimum wage teenager with no training? What a shock!!

GG

It seems to me we don't know enough about this lawsuit to comment. Was
there really something defective about the quick releases? Or did this
lawyer simply scour the country, find nine kids who didn't operate the
quick release properly, and use them to justify an attempt at quick
cash?

FWIW, Bay Area channel KCHO covered the story on their evening news. They
showed a clip of tape with one of the bikes in a bike stand. Merely
flipping the lever caused the front wheel to drop out...indicating that
there were no "nubs" to prevent that. But, they didn't go into any detail
as to whether or not that was actually the case.

They also interviewed an LBS employee who said that in 10 years of
wrenching, he had never once seen a properly assembled and adjusted
department store bike.

So, it's hard to say whether or not it was a defective bike, bad assembly by
WalMart, or some kids who were using poorly maintained, low end "mountain
bikes" to perform stunts they dreamed up after watching Jackass.

GG

Quoted message said:

I'm afraid the very term "quick release" is going to be used to get
large awards out of ignorant juries. So few people understand them.

Recently, a licensed Professional Engineer I know showed me a bike that
he was asked, by a lawyer, to write a report on. The engineer was very
scornful of the design - a low end mountain bike that had lost its
front wheel in a jump, causing the kid to scratch up his face when he
went over the bars.

So I showed the engineer how the quick release was _supposed_ to work -
and he was amazed. When checking out the bike, he'd been spinning it
like a wing nut, just as the kid had probably done. Unfortunately,
he'd already written his report. OTOH, it may not matter much, because
the kid and his family had packed up suddenly and moved out, leaving no
forwarding address.

I _do_ wonder if quick release axles should be installed only as
_options_ on low-end bikes. It's clear that the average American
doesn't have the minimal mechanical aptitude to figure them out.

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

: Where did parents get kids' bicycles before Wal Mart? I was a kid in the
: 70s, and I remember a couple of el cheapos before I got my first
Schwinn.
: One even had hard plastic tires. I had a chopper from Sears, but I don't
: think the quality was very good at all.
:
I remember Western Auto selling kids' bikes here in Texas. And Montgomery
Ward, of course (as well as Sears Roebuck).

Pat
:

A lot of stores had bikes, like Woolworth and Co, Kresges, the Five and
Dime, ACE Hardware and some other hardware stores.
Some grocery stores had bikes too. When I was young and in the military I
bought a nice Schwinn 10speed from the local Schwinn LBS
in Phoenix Az. I used it until I had to go overseas, then I sold it to
someone else. So there were Schwinn dealers way back in 1973 in the bigger
cities.
I got a 1970's vintage JC Penney 10sp road touring bike recently. I had to
replace the tires, tubes and put on a new chain.
The QR's are pretty crappy, but they still work, I ought to replace them
soon.
Otherwise it works pretty good still.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ah...no. when a product is sold for an intended purpose, the

uniform commercial code says that there is an implied warranty
that it will be safe when correctly used as intended<<

"When correctly used" is your phrase. QR's are correct when tightened.
Bolts are used correctly when tightened. We all know that fasteners can
come loose and as consumers it is our duty to check occasionally. If
fasteners fail that becomes a warranty issue.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the customer is *not* required the check that the store assembled

by bicycle correctly, as the law requires. it's the store's job
to ensure that they are safe when they leave the store. <<

I may not be rquired to do so but my brain tells me it cant hurt to do
a quick check of a bike before riding esp if my kids will be riding.
Taking 5 minutes can prevent an accident . Millions of $$$ from
walmart are worthless if my kid ends up damaged for life , A scar may
be worth it to have enough for college but brain injury , paralysis etc
is not worth any money in the world.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

deep pockets have nothing to do with it. <<

It has everything to do with it. People have stopped being
responsible for themselves and need to sue corporations out of
stupidity and laziness. Coffee is served hot so do I neeed a label?
You are the reason our courts are filled with frivilous suits that
detract from those who legitimately deserve damages.

"Earl Bollinger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I think it is another example of parents not checking the

bicycle out

Quoted message said:

frequently to ensure it is OK to ride.
They just assumed it was setup from the store, no one

checked any of the

Quoted message said:

fasteners or QR's or nuts and bolts to
make sure they were tight. So they blame some company with

deep pockets for

Quoted message said:

their own stupidity or lazyness.
Just recently I saw a neigborhood kid riding a bike with the

front QR

Quoted message said:

spinning around or flopping around loosely on the hub.
So I got the kid to stop so I could tighten it for him plus

other things too

Quoted message said:

(everything was about to fall off of the bike),
and I adjusted his seat higher too. It makes you wonder what

the parents are

Quoted message said:

doing, maybe waiting for an accident so they could sue too?

Another theory is that the parents just don't understand quick
releases.
I can't think of a lot of other items that have QR's on them.

"Gooserider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:EPSRd.96783

Quoted message said:

Where did parents get kids' bicycles before Wal Mart? I was

a kid in the

Quoted message said:

70s, and I remember a couple of el cheapos before I got my

first Schwinn.

Quoted message said:

One even had hard plastic tires. I had a chopper from Sears,

but I don't

Quoted message said:

think the quality was very good at all.

Sears sold a lot of bikes under names like J C Higgins and
Free Spirit.
Hardware stores did, too (and many still do, especially in
small towns).
Didn't Western Auto have its own line of cheap bikes?

<[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

I _do_ wonder if quick release axles should be installed

only as

Quoted message said:

_options_ on low-end bikes. It's clear that the average

American

Quoted message said:

doesn't have the minimal mechanical aptitude to figure them

out.

Quoted message said:

I'm surprised this hasn't happened. There's really no speed
advantage over large wing nuts in a household context --
particularly since many people riding low-end bikes aren't
carrying patch kits and pumps anyway. Large wing nuts are
simpler technology that is probably cheaper. It has to be
marketing / consumer perception related.

20 Feb 2005 07:52:17 -0800,
<[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I _do_ wonder if quick release axles should be installed only as
_options_ on low-end bikes. It's clear that the average American
doesn't have the minimal mechanical aptitude to figure them out.

I thought all these things came plastered with warning stickers and a
generic "owner's manual" in two or more languages.
Perhaps the problem is rooted in illiteracy.
--
zk

Sun, 20 Feb 2005 11:42:32 -0600,
<1108921278.95128fd501f9afc89215b1f00aa2ae83@teranews>, "Mike Kruger"

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sears sold a lot of bikes under names like J C Higgins and
Free Spirit.
Hardware stores did, too (and many still do, especially in
small towns).
Didn't Western Auto have its own line of cheap bikes?

The "Western Flyer".

Auto tire stores were major sellers of bicycles.
Firestone had their own house brands built by Colson and Huffman that
later became Huffy. B.F. Goodrich sold rebadged Schiwnns. Goodyear
sold Colsons.

I think part of the chain store bikes' popularity was these companies
were able to offer financing. Weekly payments of $1.50 helped make
bikes attainable.
--
zk

In article <[email hidden]>,
[quote="'1oki'"]
"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Gooserider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Where did parents get kids' bicycles before Wal Mart?

Quoted message said:

'If there's one thing this country needs,
it's more lawyers
Can you imagine a world without lawyers?
*shudder* -Lionel Hutz