Dressers keep killing kids. So IKEA is finally redesigning them | Hacker News Reader

Dressers keep killing kids. So IKEA is finally redesigning them

fastcompany.com

16 pointsr0n0j0y17 comments

This is a great thing to see. When we were kids, my brother crawled into a dresser drawer when we were playing around. His weight on the open drawer caused the dresser to fall forward, trapping him inside a partially closed drawer. I barely got out of the way before it fell on me. And, being a huge wooden dresser, my mother couldn't lift it herself to get him out.

If it had fallen differently we both could have died, and there was nothing wrong with the dresser itself. We were just dumb kids who liked climbing in things. It's one of my earliest vivid memories.

I guess not even parents screw them to the wall. The fixtures have always been included, and the manual warns owners to fix the furniture to the wall.

Yeah, I think this is a pretty classic example showing how almost no one actually reads the manual or follows the instructions.

That just isn't reasonable. It damages the wall. Many people have basement heat, which means a 3-inch gap. Either you make a huge hole for a toggle bolt and then lose the hardware forever, or you have to find a stud. Lots of people are incapable of finding a stud. People want to move furniture for vacuuming. Renters aren't supposed to drill holes in the walls.

The reasonable solution is weight in the bottom, but that is either expensive to ship or the customer must provide it. A slab of lead would be great. A water tank is an interesting solution.

How is it not reasonable for people to learn BASIC handy skills? It is in no way shape or form unreasonable to expect people to be able to properly secure something to their wall unless they have a physical impairment.

Learned helplessness.

sadly so so true :(

We tried with these Ikea models, but couldn't do it. Our apartment walls are very dense, and it's almost impossible to drive a screw through.

Did you try with power tools? You can drive screws through concrete... Maybe try again or ask someone for help?

You can drive screws through a pipe or cable, but I don't suggest doing so. When there is a will, there is a way.

If it’s concrete or some other material similar get an SDS+ drill.

Nice. About time. I think I've seen this feature in some filing cabinets.

When I was a kid, I had a heavy metal dresser that was prone to being top-heavy and falling over with just any second drawer barely out of place (the drawers were difficult to move).

In these kind of cases they always seem to treat it as an accident and not prosecute the parents. I wonder if that is actually an effective strategy.

If protecting your kids from injury or death isn’t sufficient incentive, I don’t really think prosecution will make a difference.

But I’m curious why parents aren’t anchoring these to the walls in the first place. I don’t think it’s malice. Ignorance? Too much trouble? Not handy enough to do it themselves? Believing the drawers won’t fall over?

(I’m a parent and had IKEA furniture when our kids were young and I anchored it, but I’m handy and like to think responsible.)

My guess is that it intuitively seems "unnecessary" to their scale like it won't really tip over and it is for if you actually want it not touching the floor. Unfortunately that isn't the case.

From my experience, the landlord would throw us out of the house if we even breathe the wrong way - let alone screw in holes in the wall.

Child mortality rates have plummeted over the past century -> lower fertility rates -> more outrage over every child's death -> let's prosecute someone every time a child dies!

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