One serious injury has been reported at Lake Lanier from the use of a Webo Kite Tube, a tube with fabric floor that a rider holds onto while being towed behind a boat...
In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Sportsstuff, Inc., of Omaha, Nebraska is voluntarily recalling about 19,000 Wego Kite Tubes. Additionally, the use of kite tubes are banned from all Corps of Engineers lakes in Georgia - this includes Allatoona, Lanier, Walter F. George, Carters, West Point, Seminole, Hartwell and Richard B. Russell.
Kite tubing is a new form of extreme water sport. The kite tube has a fabric floor that a rider holds onto while being towed behind a boat.
The front of the tube lifts out of the water as the boat excels - sometimes to extremely dangerous heights. Often the kite tube will come back down at a rapid rate of speed, either hurling the rider off of it or slamming into the water with the rider on board. CPSC staff is aware of 39 injury incidents with 29 of those resulting in medical treatment.
Those injuries include a broken neck, punctured lung, chest and back injuries and facial injuries. One serious injury has been reported at Lake Lanier.
Consumers who need recall information regarding the Wego Kite Tube by Sportsstuff should contact Sportsstuff at (866) 831-5524 or at www.sportsstuff.com . For more information about the ban of kite tubing on Corps of Engineers lakes, call (251) 690-2506 or (251) 690-2512.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or visit CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.