Leafblower Recall

The CPSC recently recalled 60,000 Echo and Shindaiwa gas backpack leaf blowers and 6,000 replacement straps made by Echo after reports of external pieces of the devices getting sucked into the unit and expelled at high speeds. These products were sold at independent Echo and Shindaiwa storefronts between August 2018 and February 2020, as well as online at Grangier and Home Depot websites during the same time frame. Here are the blower models and replacement straps that were subject to recall along with their respective serial numbers:

While not all leaf blowers are unsafe for their intended purpose, those manufactured by Echo do pose a risk of injury to the user. According to reports, the products are constructed poorly and with lesser materials that can break while someone’s using the blower. Once they break, they can get sucked into the machine and expelled at high speeds, putting anyone in the area at risk of impact and laceration injuries. One customer suffered a neck injury due to the defect, and it’s likely that other individuals out there were injured as well. If you or someone you know was injured by an Echo or Shindaiwa gas backpack leaf blower, you could be eligible to recover the damage you sustained through a lawsuit. 

Product liability violations occur every day, but that doesn’t mean that we, as consumers, have to stand for the damage. Although a lawsuit won’t reverse the harm you experienced, the compensation from a successful lawsuit can help you mitigate the financial damage and, most importantly, hold the negligent party accountable for endangering the lives of innocent consumers. Other manufacturers will see that they can’t get away with lackluster safety standards and change their production process to avoid the same situation, making the world safer for anyone who walks into a store. Our talented attorneys stand as an ally to the victims of product liability violations everywhere, regardless of the size or influence of the negligent party.

Echo and Shindaiwa gas backpack leaf blowers are constructed with subpar materials and can break during use. According to reports, the broken pieces of the unit can get sucked into the blower and shot out at high speeds, potentially leaving the user or anyone in the area with a laceration or impact injury if the projectile strikes them. Anything traveling at high speeds has the potential to cause harm, but these broken blower pieces are sometimes sharp and jagged, which increases the risk of a serious injury even further. Here are a few injuries that can result from a defective leaf blower:

• Lacerations (cuts, scrapes),
• Impact injuries (concussion, bruises, contusions),
• Eye damage,
• Loss of limbs/extremities,
• Puncture wounds

All of the injuries, whether serious or not, should be checked out by a trained medical professional to determine the extent of the damage. Seeking medical treatment also creates a paper trail of your harm, which is highly beneficial when it comes time to file your lawsuit. Additionally, anyone who sustains an injury from a defective leaf blower should speak to an attorney as soon as possible. Time is of the essence in cases like these, and you can avoid problems in the future by speaking to an attorney today.

In the most difficult moments of your life, Morgan & Morgan has your back. Manufacturer negligence isn’t your burden to bear, as they should have properly safety tested their product before shipping it to innocent consumers across the nation. Echo could have avoided this situation with some forethought and proactive testing, but instead, they chose to act negligently and endanger the well-being of their customer base to bolster their profit margin. While they did do the right thing and offer repairs for the defective products, it’s merely a band-aid fix on the much larger issue. Those who were injured likely won’t want to repair their device; they’ll want justice for the harm they endured. Our attorneys understand how you’re feeling, and we want to help you navigate through this situation to come out on the other side with the compensation you deserve.

If you were injured by an Echo or Shindaiwa leaf blower, or any other defective leaf blower product, contact us today for more information on how to get started.