When Are Kids Old Enough To Use Lawn Mowing Equipment?
Every year, some 400,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries from lawn and garden equipment. Sixty thousand of these injuries are related to lawn mowing; riding lawn mowers and garden tractors injure 25,000 and kill 75 each year. Of those killed, 15 are children, who are usually injured when they fall from the mower and are run over. Parents need to decide when their children are mature enough to learn to operate power equipment, says Howard Doss, Extension safety specialist at Michigan State University. For younger children, a good rule is to keep children away from the mowing area at all times. “This means no mowing with a toddler in your lap when using your riding lawn mower or garden tractor, and no children playing nearby that could be struck by objects thrown by whirling blades or that might dart in the path of a riding mower,” Doss says. Teenagers should be allowed to operate outdoor power equipment only if they are strong enough and mature enough to do i
