Johanna’s lawsuit, brought to light by the Daily Beast Sept. 6, involves the first-known death involving a Peloton bike, which rose in popularity after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 as people increasingly worked out at home.
However, the company’s treadmills been previously involved in tragic incidents. In 2021, a 6-year-old child died after getting pulled into a Peloton treadmill, while a 3-year-old suffered a “significant brain injury” from an accident that left him “trapped under a Peloton Tread+,” according to an incident report made to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
Peloton later recalled the product and this past January, the CPSC announced that the exercise equipment firm had agreed to pay a $19 million civil penalty that “resolves CPSC’s charges that Peloton knowingly failed to immediately report to CPSC, as required by law, that its Tread+ treadmill contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard and created an unreasonable risk of serious injury to consumers.”
“By the time Peloton filed a report with the Commission there were more than 150 reports of people, pets, and/or objects being pulled under the rear of the Tread+ treadmill,” the CPSC said, “including the death of a child and 13 injuries, including broken bones, lacerations, abrasions and friction burns.”
Peloton later said in a statement to NBC News and other outlets that it was pleased to have reached a settlement and that “it continues to pursue the CPSC’s approval of a Tread+ rear guard that would further augment its safety features.” The company added it “remains deeply committed to the safety and well-being of our members and to the continuous improvement of our products.”
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