I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1173 
To authorize the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a consumer 
product safety rule to prevent injuries to users of vending machines 
and entrapment by small children. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2007 
Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To authorize the Consumer Product Safety Commission to 
issue a consumer product safety rule to prevent injuries 
to users of vending machines and entrapment by small 
children. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vending Machine Safe-
ty Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) In October 2006, after failing to scoop out 
a stuffed replica of Sponge Bob Square Pants in a 
crane vending machine, three-year-old Robert Moore 
took off his coat and squeezed through an opening 
in the machine. 
(2) In May 2005, a 3 year old boy in Elkhart, 
Indiana, had to be rescued by firefighters after he 
was trapped in a crane vending machine. The boy 
was rescued after firefighters removed the back of 
the machine. 
(3) In June 2000, a 4 year old boy in O’Fallon, 
Missouri, had to be rescued after getting trapped in-
side a crane vending machine. The child crawled into 
the machine through the trap door through which 
toys are dispensed. The child was freed from the 
machine only after rescue workers pried the top of 
the machine off. 
(4) In June 2000, another case of a child being 
trapped inside the same trap door of a crane vend-
ing machine occurred in Texas. 
(5) Since 1990, the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission has received at least 43 reported inci-
dents of individuals’ use of vending machines which 
has resulted in personal injury primarily to the indi-
viduals’ arms and hands. 
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(6) At least 25 of the reported injuries were 
suffered by minors, 15 of which were by children 
under the age of 10. 
(7) It is clear that there are defects in the de-
sign of the vending machines which have led to the 
reported injuries. 
SEC. 3. VENDING MACHINE RULE. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety Commission 
shall issue a consumer product safety standard under sec-
tion 7 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 
2056), for the manufacture and installation of vending 
machines, particularly those using a lever or crane appa-
ratus to dispense a product. Such standard may include 
a requirement for warning labels or signs relating to the 
use of such machines to prevent injuries to individuals, 
including children, and may, in the case of a vending ma-
chine with an opening of sufficient size to permit entrap-
ment by a small child, include requirements for an emer-
gency release latch or mechanism for opening the vending 
machine. 
Æ 
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