Nanny State Update - 'Water Walking Balls' Deemed Deadly (Despite Nobody Dying)

These giant plastic balls often seen at the beach or resort areas have been determined to be a threat to America and her people.

Seriously.

The AP reports that the Consumer Product Safety Commission views these innocent looking toys as potentially deadly;

WASHINGTON – The government is warning people to stay out of those giant see-through inflatable spheres known as "water walking balls" because of the risk of suffocation or drowning.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday that it "does not know of any safe way to use" the products, which are popular at amusement parks, resorts, malls and carnivals.

While the report states that no person has died from zorbing (that's the term for using these water-walking balls), the Commission is aware of a number of injuries. OK, just two injuries and neither was serious. A quick web search while researching this story did not turn up a single death caused by the water-walking balls. Many videos of people actually enjoying themselves were available. See for yourself;

This one doesn't appear to make any sense.  And the CPSC is apparently not finished with this topic;

"Our investigation into water walking balls will not stop with today's warning."

The aforementioned AP story says that the agency has been reaching out to states and amusement park operators encouraging them to stop using these 'dangerous' devices. Reports say that skydiving averages 30 deaths each year in America.  Is the CPSC working to ban skydiving? No.

And now for some clarity and honesty provided by the unimpeachable truth offered by real government statistics. Remember, the CPSC was unable to find a single person who died because they used the water-walking balls.

Last year (2010) we had 123,706 deaths from accidents or what the government classifies as 'unintentional injuries.'  That translates into 186 people DYING from accidents each and every single day!  Where is the news media on this? Where is the outrage?

And these are not some made-up stats from a reporter with an axe to grind. These are government statistics reported annually.  Check out this snappy graphic from the Centers for Disease Control;

Heart disease, cancer, strokes occupy the top three 'causes of death' in America with accidents regularly getting blamed for 5% of deaths in the country. Water-walker balls?  0.0%

Of course we need some oversight to make certain that all reasonable care is taken when companies bring a product to market. In this particular case, one might wonder if this government agency doesn't have more pressing issues to address.