The skyrocketing sales of big-screen TVs has an underside, safety officials say. More children are getting injured or dying because more TVs are tipping over.

"We can speculate that as the price of large traditional televisions has dropped, people are buying larger TVs but are not investing in new furniture that is properly sized and stable," says Julie Vallese, director of information and public affairs for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Vallese adds that the CPSC doesn't categorize the types of TVs involved in fatal accidents.

No matter the type of TV, tip-over injuries and fatalities are on the rise. According to a Consumer Reports analysis of data from the CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database, there were an estimated 44,732 tip-over injuries in 2005, an increase of more than 8 percent from 2004. And there were 15 tip-over deaths in 2005, up from 13 in 2004. The latest news from the CPSC, announced Sept. 12, 2006, shows a significant rise in the number of children younger than 5 killed by television tip-overs--a frightful thought for any parent. Through the first seven months of 2006, 10 children younger than 5 have died in a tip-over accident, double the average annual number. This projects to 17 young children dying this year, more than triple the average.

In March 2006 Consumer Reports featured a safety alert on furniture stability. As the video on that page shows, unstable furniture can pose a real risk, and tip-overs often occur because consumers are not taking necessary safety precautions at home. Here's what you can do to prevent a dangerous accident:

• Ensure that the furniture on or in which you place your TVs is stable. Do not place TVs on dressers, chests, or other types of furniture with drawers that can be pulled out by young children and used to climb.
• Place your TV as far back as possible on or in the furniture--tip-over is more likely if the set is too far forward.
• Do not store items that will grab a child's attention on top of the TV--a small kid might try to climb on a piece of furniture in an effort to get the remote. "The predictable thing about kids is that they are unpredictable," says Vallese, who notes that parents should never assume that their children who tend not to be "climbers" won't use the drawers in a dresser as a stepladder, for example.
• Hide all cables and wires behind the TV. This way, no one will trip over them and potentially pull over the TV or furniture.
• Anchor any potentially unstable furniture more than 30 inches tall to the wall or floor with straps or other restraints. And keep heavy objects off of dressers.
• Look for TV carts and stands that meet Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standards.

Based on the risks posed by tip-overs, Consumer Reports feels that the furniture industry must meet tougher standards to reduce the number of injuries and deaths from these accidents--in 2005 alone, at least 3,000 children under the age of 5 were treated in hospital emergency rooms for TV tip-over injuries. What's more, Consumer Reports is calling for these voluntary standards to be made mandatory.