Warning Labels on Shoes.

[JAMMY]

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g00 6/8 p. 28

The Height of Fashion?

Platform shoes, “a vital accessory for fashion-conscious young people,” together with high heels are responsible for about 10,000 injuries a year in Britain, observes The Times of London. Steve Tyler, a spokesman for the British Standards Institution, says: “The most common injuries are twisted or sprained ankles and broken legs, but these shoes may also cause back problems, especially in young girls whose bodies are still developing.” In Japan platform shoes have even been involved in the deaths of two women in recent months. In one case a 25-year-old nursery school worker wearing five-inch platform sandals tripped, fractured her skull, and died. Another young woman was killed when the car she was traveling in hit a concrete pole because the driver could not brake properly while wearing her six-inch [15 cm] platform boots. In a bid to avoid lawsuits, some manufacturers have taken to putting warning labels on their shoes.