The United States is facing daily threats from illegal immigration, outbreaks from once eliminated diseases, and calls from lawmakers to allow children who survive abortion to die, but four Senators on the East Coast — including presidential hopeful Cory Booker — are worried about the threat posed from beach umbrellas.
CBS affiliate WTKR-TV cited one example of a woman, Lottie Belk, who died after being struck by an umbrella in Virginia Beach in 2016, but Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Robert Menendez (D-NJ), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations, Tim Kaine (D-VA), Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016, and Democrat presidential candidate Cory Booker (D-NJ) are working to make sure no one else suffers such a fate.
The lawmakers sent a letter to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission asking it to tell them how the issue is being addressed.
In the letter, they say that over two decades more than 31,000 “umbrella-related” injuries have taken place and asks for more details about the type of umbrella involved in the injuries.
“The scourge of beach umbrellas is not a new phenomenon,” the letter says, citing a woman in New York who received a $200,000 settlement from the state from an injury she incurred in 1999.
The letter seeks answers to a series of questions, including inquiring about “safety standards” being put in place for beach umbrellas and seeks answers by June 3, 2019.
“Beach staff say to avoid flying umbrellas, pay attention to the weather,” WTKR reported.
“If it gets too windy, it might not be the best idea to put up an umbrella,” Hunter Thomas, a beach rental associate at Surf and Adventure in Sandbridge, Virginia told the outlet.
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