SNEWS View: Industry needs to avoid finger-pointing, witch-hunting in treadmill tragedy

In the hours and days after Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old died tragically on May 26 by strangling on a cord hanging off a home treadmill, the industry seems to have decided that a frenzy of finger-pointing and witch-hunting is the best response.

Not only does this need to stop … now … the industry needs instead to use this accident as an impetus to band together and to educate the public about quality equipment, appropriate use and safety standards. It doesn’t matter whose machine it was. A child died on a treadmill. That singular fact affects everyone that sells treadmills unless we -- and by “we” SNEWS® means the collective fitness industry -- stand together to mourn a tragic loss, and find ways to ensure this kind of thing cannot happen again.

>> Forget finger-pointing. It does not matter what brand the treadmill in question was. It could have frankly happened on any brand. It was a fluke, a terribly tragic accident that could have occurred with any piece of equipment not appropriately locked-down to protect against curious kids. Any witch-hunting-like behavior is way below the industry. Let’s show we are more mature than that and work together to arrive at a solution that helps the industry....

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