WHO WE ARE

Parents Against Tip-Overs (PAT) was originally founded in 2018 by a group of parents from across the nation who had all lost a child to a furniture tip-over incident. Following their personal tragedies, many of our founding parents had tried for years to educate the public on the importance of anchoring furniture to the wall, as well as advocate for stronger safety standards for clothing storage units. The progress that was made from these efforts was minimal and incredibly slow. In 2008, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission began reporting annual tip-over statistics. The CPSC reported 52 known tip-over fatalities in 2011, which was the peak year for tip-overs. By 2015, the CPSC launched their Anchor It! Campaign aimed to educate the public on the need for anchoring furniture. In the last decade, TV tip-overs fatalities have greatly diminished while furniture tip-overs remain a problem. Over 85% of furniture tip-over fatalities involve children, and thousands of children are sent to the ER every year from tip-over related injuries. In 2022, Parents Against Tip-Overs, Inc. became a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, with the vision of becoming the top national resource for tip-over prevention.
In December of 2022, we succeeded in passing the STURDY Act and the law went into effect on September 1st, 2023.  It requires that all dressers and clothing storage furniture 26 inches and taller pass stringent stability and safety tests.