CPSC NEISS · code 1309

Kites Or Kite String

Kites Or Kite String: danger rank #38 of 838 is not ER-volume rank #644 of 838 (370 estimated ER visits a year; roughly flat over the last five years).

Toys & Children's Recreation CPSC NEISS through 2024

Danger score versus ER volume

Danger score versus ER volume

According to CPSC NEISS 2005-2024, Kites Or Kite String ranks #38 of 838 by danger score (46/100) at ER-volume #644 of 838 (370/yr). They are not the same ranking.

#38
danger rank of 838
#644
ER-volume rank of 838
46/100
danger score
370/yr
estimated ER visits (avg)

Danger score combines injury volume, hospitalization, fatality, and five-year trend. ER volume is the average annual NEISS estimate alone. Rank 1 is highest on each list.

Where this category's danger score sits nationally

Danger score (46/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories

46 Higher than most more dangerous than 94% of 838 product categories

scored CPSC product categories, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more product categories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source CPSC NEISS, PlainSafety danger-score model · 2024

Composite verdict

Composite Safety Score: 55/100

One verdict blending 4 independently-sourced dimensions from two separate CPSC systems, each benchmarked against all 838 scored product categories by percentile rather than raw value, so no single huge-volume category can dominate the scale.

C
Dimension Value National percentile Weight applied Source
Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) 25 96th 35% CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index
Annual ER injury volume 370 21st 30% CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries
5-year injury trend -4% 59th 15% CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries
Consumer incident reports 3 28th 20% CPSC SaferProducts.gov public incident report count

Methodology: each dimension is ranked against the full population's p10/p25/p50/p75/p90 breakpoints and interpolated to a 0-100 percentile; the composite is the weighted average of available percentiles. See methodology for the full benchmark table.

Where 7,390 estimated ER injuries land on the body

Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 1309. Segments sum to 7,390 - a body-map mix, not a danger score or ER-volume rank.

Two danger lenses

Same-group peer scores and this product's dial

The bars compare PlainSafety danger scores inside the Toys & Children's Recreation group (same CPSC NEISS extract). The dial is this product's score alone on the Low/Moderate/High bands. Do not read a peer bar as an ER-visit count.

Toys & Children's Recreation danger scores

1. Kites Or Kite String46/1002. Skateboards, Unpowered Or…43/1003. Fireworks43/1004. Toys, Not Elsewhere Class…40/1005. Toys, Not Specified39/1006. Toy Guns With Projectiles38/1007. Building Sets38/1008. Inflatable Toys38/100
Higher score = higher composite danger in this group. Peer set is other scored products sharing the same CPSC group.
0/100100/10046/100
PlainSafety danger score · Kites Or Kite String

Source: CPSC NEISS danger-score model As of 2024

How this 46/100 score is built

The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for kites or kite string - no opinion, no editorializing:

  • Injury volume 370 ER visits/yr Low volume
  • Severity (hospitalization rate) 5.9% Above median admission rate
  • Fatality rate 1.95% Elevated fatality rate
  • 5-year trend-4%

Band labels compare this category against the corpus of 838 scored CPSC product categories, see the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.

What the CPSC Data Shows

Across the 20-year NEISS window from 2005 to 2024, injury counts for kites or kite string are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2013 (632 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2022 (95 estimated visits). The single most common ER diagnosis is contusions, abr. to the eyeball, accounting for approximately 479 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the face (404 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 2,428 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 5.9% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (1.95%) result in fatality.

Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 3 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how kites or kite string fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.

Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)

0200400600800 20052008201120142017202020232024 279
Estimated annual emergency-room visits for Kites Or Kite String, CPSC NEISS

Source: CPSC NEISS national injury estimates As of 2024

Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only

Who Gets Injured?

Age Group Male Female Total
0-4 816 222 1,038
5-14 1,509 919 2,428
15-24 637 107 744
25-34 666 198 864
35-44 563 334 897
45-54 435 306 741
55-64 168 304 472
65-74 95 16 111
75+ 16 74 90

Most Common Injuries

Body Part Diagnosis Est. Injuries
Eyeball Contusions, Abr. 479
Face Laceration 404
Wrist Fracture 378
Ankle Strain, Sprain 373
Upper Arm Fracture 300
Head Internal Injury 298
Eyeball Other 244
Knee Strain, Sprain 244
Shoulder Strain, Sprain 244
Finger Fracture 229
Foot Fracture 224
Hand Laceration 200
Upper Trunk Other 188
All Parts Body Other 151
Lower Leg Laceration 142

Severity Breakdown

Treated/examined And Released 91.2% (6,738)
Treated And Admitted/hospitalized 4.9% (364)
Left Without Being Seen 1.5% (112)
Fatality Incl. Doa, Died In Er 1.3% (98)
Treated And Transferred 1.1% (78)

ER Visit Narratives

Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.

Age 22 · Male · Hand · Laceration · 2024

22YOM P/W HAND LAC SUSTAINED FROM STRING WHILE KITE FLYING, DX:HAND LAC

Age 7 · Female · Finger · Contusions, Abr. · 2024

7YOF, RIGHT POINTER FINGER PAIN & ABRASION, KITE STRING GOT STUCK & SCRAPED FINGER DX: NO DIAGNOSIS

Age 8 · Male · Head · Concussion · 2024

8 YOM FLYING A KITE AND RAN INTO A POLE DX; CONCUSSION W/O LOC, FOREHEAD CONTUSION

Age 8 · Male · Face · Laceration · 2024

8YOM WAS FLYING A KITE & FELL ON A BRICK. DX: FACIAL LAC

Age 27 · Female · Ankle · Strain, Sprain · 2024

27YOF WAS RUNNING WITH A KITE AND TWISTED ANKLE. DX RT ANKLE STR

Age 3 · Female · Mouth · Contusions, Abr. · 2024

3YOF FELL TO THE FLOOR AT HOME AFTER GETTING TANGLED UP IN THE STRING OF HER KITE DX: LIP ABRASION *

Age 6 · Male · Lower Leg · Fracture · 2024

6YOM FLYING A KITE AND TRIPPED. TWISTED ANKLE. DX: FIBULA FX

Age 14 · Male · Wrist · Fracture · 2024

14 YOM C/O WRIST FRACTURE S/P RUNNING BACKWARDS WHILE FLYING A KITE AND FELL. DX: WRIST FRACTURE

Age 4 · Male · Mouth · Laceration · 2023

4 YOM PRESENTS WITH FACIAL LACERATION TO UPPER LIP WHEN HE RAN INTO A TREE WHILE FLYING A KITE JUST PTA AT HOME. DENIES LOC. LACERATION REPAIR PERFORMED. DX: LACERATION OF LIP.

Age 4 · Male · Neck · Contusions, Abr. · 2023

4YOM PRESENTS TO ED AFTER FALL FROM RUNNIGN AND FLYING A KITE. PT FELL HEADFIRST INTO MULCH PILE AND A SHEET OF CORRUGATED METAL. HAS LACERATION AND NECK AND ABRASION ON ELT KNEE AND ELBOW. DX: FALL, CHIN LACERATION. INJURY OF HEAD, ABRASION OF NECK

Age 52 · Male · Finger · Laceration · 2023

52YOM WITH LAC TO FINGER AFTER USING KITE AND HAND GOT CAUGHT IN ONE OF THE LINES DX: LAC OF LEFT MIDDLE FINGER WITHOUT DAMAGE TO NAIL. FB PRESENCE UNSPECIFIED

Age 4 · Female · Hand · Other · 2023

4YOF WAS PLAYING W A KITE AND IT GOT TANGLED UP CAUSING HER TO FALL ONTO LT HAND DX HAND INJURY

Consumer Incident Reports

Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.

7/24/2013 · Incident, No Injury · Manhattan Toy · Vermont

Parents - buzzing bee flyer activity toy Package: (Not for children under 3 - Not suitable for children under 36 months. Long cord.) Cord was cut to 18", so 3- 1/2 yr. old- 45 month old could swing over head. As child was playing he lowered his arm and the kite wrapped around his neck tightly. Child was being supervised so adult was able to get off neck immediately. String is fine and strong, unsupervised child would not be able to remove from neck. Strangulation hazard or rope burn hazard for any age child.

5/17/2020 · Injury, Emergency Department Treatment Received · Remka, Inc. · Massachusetts

My child was setting up the kite and bent the rod for the kite and it snapped causing fiberglass to fall all over his arms and hands. My child was screaming in pain for hours and I tried getting as much out as I could but he still has some left that I’m unable to remove myself. Depending on how it is looking in the next few days I may have to take him to the emergency room to have it checked. If it wasn’t for the Covid19 situation I would’ve most definitely took him to the hospital immediately but I’m concerned about exposure to pandemic when going to the hospital.

1/1/2014 · Injury, Hospital Admission · Caution Kites · Oregon

Purchased brand new size 8 meter kite from Caution Kites in Santa Cruz California. Too long of a bridal assembly resulted in an accident where I suffered a shattered collarbone and left elbow. Surgery required. Caution acknowledged that the kite was faulty and was the cause of the accident. They replaced the kite but when asked to pay for medical bills, they have refused to communicate with me. They are uninsured for this type of accident. I have medical bills, loss of work and other expenses I would like to get reimbursed for.

Product Recalls

Search for active and past recalls related to kites or kite string on the CPSC website.

Compare beyond Toys & Children's Recreation

Nationwide peers by danger score, ER volume & hospitalization

Three PlainSafety-derived comparison paths for Kites Or Kite String: cross-group products nearest on danger score (46/100), estimated annual ER visits (370/yr), and hospitalization share (5.9%). Same-group neighbours stay in Related Products above.

Read with this product

About this data

CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports form the basis of this page. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments.

According to PlainSafety's CPSC NEISS corpus ranking, Kites Or Kite String ranks #38 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #644 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does kites or kite string rank on danger score versus ER volume?

Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, kites or kite string ranks #38 by PlainSafety danger score (46/100) and #644 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (370/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.

What are the most common injuries from kites or kite string?

The most common injury is contusions, abr. to the eyeball, accounting for approximately 479 injuries over 20 years.

Are injuries from kites or kite string increasing or decreasing?

Stable over 5 years.

Who is most at risk for kites or kite string injuries?

The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 2,428 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.

What happens when someone is injured by kites or kite string?

Of all ER visits involving kites or kite string, approximately 5.9% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (94.1%) are treated and released from the emergency department.

How can I report a safety problem with kites or kite string?

You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.

Data on Kites Or Kite String is compiled directly from CPSC NEISS and SaferProducts.gov records, current through 2024. See our methodology for details.

Disclaimer: This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.

PlainSafety is rendered directly from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall and incident records, no number is typed in by an editor. Product recall timelines and hazard labels are drawn from CPSC recall records for this product. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.