Lawnmower Safety Tips to Prevent Accidents


Published 05/29 2014 01:54PM

Updated 05/29 2014 02:08PM

Many of you have probably already mowed your yard at least once this season and unfortunately several accidents have already been reported.  WFFT's Brooke Welch gives you some safety tips to keep your family safe while using your lawnmower.

It's one of the sounds of summer.  Many of us mow our yards weekly, but often don't think about the danger that could occur while mowing the lawn.

"A young boy in my school back in the day, he was on a riding mower.  It flipped and roller over him and he lost his arm."

"There's actually been a recent death with one of the local landscape companies a few weeks ago."

"A friend of a friend had a little boy who ran towards his father as his father was mowing the grass and I guess the grass was a little bit dewey and he slid right under the deck of a riding lawnmower."

Gwen Van Order says hearing about that accident made her family take the dangers of mowing more seriously.

"We decided not to let our kids play outside while he's mowing the lawn so they know they have to watch through the window because they think it's a pretty cool thing when dad mows."

John Krizo says it upsets him when he sees people tie the safety stop bar to the mower.

"That's meant to turn the thing off if you should get go and there's reason you let go.  You fall, something happened to you and if you're falling that mower is going to go wherever gravity will take it and if that happens to be over the top of your foot, ta da."

The Manager of Mutton Power Equipment, Joe Mutton says to pay attention to what you're mowing over.

"Being aware that you have a blade under that and if you run over things, it can shoot outside the deck and injure somebody."

Besides sending children inside while you mow, Mutton says not to wear hooded sweatshirts on a riding mower.

"You can catch limbs and things and a lot of times you'll break the limb but if you have a hoodie blowing in the wind and it gets caught, that's a pretty good way to choke yourself."

Mutton says to always turn off the mower when checking fluid levels or servicing and to abide by all safety manual regulations.

If you follow these precautions while mowing your lawn, then hopefully you and your family will have a safe mowing season.


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