Apologies for the late response Corinne, and so sorry to hear about you and your son's accident several years ago. Although it's great to hear how well he's been doing since then! This is indeed a family home. The stairs have been working out very well for them. I would think both the carpet along with the lack of hand rail may create a hazard. If you're still interested in taking every precaution, I may recommend keeping the stairs carpet-free or installing new, very low pile carpeting.

the truth is we can fall easily on all stairs; I fell from top of 21 steps down a full flight of straight steps, no landing.... and obviously, fell very heavily by the time I got to the bottom... there was a small landing there of about 36" square, wall on opposite side of stairs, and I ended up in a U shape there. Actually I only had foot and leg injuries, but if less flexible / older I imagine I could have broken my back or neck... Had there been a landing part way down, I think that would have broken my fall earlier and limited the damage, especially if the width of 2 flights... with such a design, should you fall, you are only going down a short way compared to my surprise trip.

Sorry to hear that happened aliasusanne, and glad you are okay. I agree that staircase landings are a good choice for several reasons - yours included.