Lawn darts

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This article is about the game. It is also a F-104 Starfighter nickname and a certain style of monster truck crash.

Safety warning

Lawn darts (also called Jarts or yard darts) is a lawn game for two players or teams. A lawn dart set usually includes four large darts and two targets. The game play and objective are similar to both Horseshoes and Darts. The darts are typically 12 inches long with a weighted metal or plastic tip on one end and three plastic fins on a rod at the other end. The darts are intended to be tossed underhand toward a horizontal ground target, where the weighted end hits first and sticks in to the ground. The target is typically a plastic ring, and landing anywhere within the ring is considered a point.

[edit] Banned from sale in the United States

While the tip may not be sharp enough to be obviously dangerous, when misused, these darts can cause skull punctures and other serious injuries.

On December 19, 1988, all lawn darts were banned from sale in the United States by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Lawn darts, used in an outdoor game, have been responsible for the deaths of four children, the latest being in early 1997 near Elkhart, Indiana. It should be noted that the specific incident that caused lawn darts to be made illegal also involved beer.

Lawn darts remain legal for use in the United Kingdom as well as other countries.