Peloton CEO Warns Parents after Tread+ Machine Kills Child

A child has died during an accident involving Peloton’s Tread+ treadmill.

What We Know:

• After hearing of the death, the exercise equipment company’s CEO John Foley wrote a letter on the Peloton website addressing the matter. He urges users to “keep children and pets away from Peloton exercise equipment at all times,” and always be aware of their surroundings before beginning a workout. He also mentions that the Tread+ safety key should be removed after a workout and kept out of reach from children.

“While we are aware of only a small handful of incidents involving the Tread+ where children have been hurt, each one is devastating to all of us at Peloton,” Foley wrote.

• Peloton has garnered a lot of national attention during the COVID-19 pandemic as Americans looked for ways to stay in shape while fitness centers were primarily shut down for public safety. Peloton’s Tread+ is a highly in-demand treadmill designed for people who weigh more than 105 pounds and are older than 16.
• This is also not the first time a Tread+ treadmill has been involved in an accident. Another child was severely injured last month, according to a federal watchdog agency known as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The incident occurred on February 3rd after a father found his three-year-old son trapped beneath a Peloton Tread+, not breathing and pulseless. “He was resuscitated and now has a significant brain injury,” the report stated. “The child is expected to fully recover,” Peloton stated in an update to the report on March 17th.
• Although the details of this incident have not been disclosed to protect the family’s privacy, treadmill accidents are not an uncommon occurrence. CNBC reports that in the United States, an estimated 22,500 treadmill-related injuries were treated at emergency rooms in 2019 with about 2,000 of those involving children under the age of 8. Between 2018 and 2020, seventeen fatalities associated with the use of a treadmill were reported.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is continuing to investigate the fatal accident.