Letter to Robert S. Adler, Acting Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission - Schakowsky Calls for Investigation Into Safety of Peloton Equipment

Letter

Dear Acting Chairman Adler:

I write regarding the recent death of a child in an incident involving a Peloton Tread+
treadmill.

As you know, home exercise equipment has increased in popularity during the
ongoing coronavirus pandemic of 2019 (COVID-19). With families spending more time at home
and together, home exercise equipment dangers are especially worrisome, and any potential risks
to consumers and their families must be carefully scrutinized. While the Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced it is "investigating" the incident, more than three
weeks later, additional context or guidance for consumers has yet to be made available from
either the CPSC or Peloton. The CPSC must be able to act nimbly in identifying and responding
to emerging hazards. In addition to the absence of publicly available information about the child
fatality, other publicly reported incidents involving the same treadmill model suggest potential
obstacles preventing the Commission from taking swift action to protect the public.

As you know, a severe injury involving the Peloton Tread+ was reported to the CPSC's
public product safety information database, SaferProducts.gov, in February. According to the
incident report, a three-year old boy was hospitalized with "significant brain injury" after being
found by his father trapped under the treadmill. The boy had tread marks on his back matching
the slats of the treadmill and had to be resuscitated.

In another incident reported by Inside Edition, a two-year old was pulled under the same
treadmill model while his mother was exercising, resulting in burns to his face, back, and neck.
The same segment also played harrowing video footage from a separate incident in which an
exercise ball is sucked under a Peloton Tread+ while a woman is working out with her young
daughter just feet away. Even without the full breadth of incident data that the CPSC might
have, these few incidents suggest a problematic hazard pattern that warrants urgent action by the agency to prevent further injury or death.

As Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection
and Commerce and pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §2055(a)(7), I respectfully request a detailed status
report regarding the CPSC's investigation into reports of injury involving the Peloton Tread+
treadmill and efforts to inform the public of any unreasonable risk of injury and death from the
product. In the report, please include a description of any factors (e.g. Section 6(b) of the
Consumer Product Safety Act,8 Commission makeup or structure, availability of resources,
statutory limitations, etc.) that have slowed or delayed the agency's investigation and its efforts
to publicize unreasonable risks to consumers.

Please provide a response no later than April 27, 2021. Thank you in advance for your
prompt attention to this request.

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