The guards are often just a bit tucked in under it for the clean look but without cutting corners.
Edit: Pelotons are really heavy as well starting at about 300 lbs. Most of the ones in that weight class seem to have safety bars? The difference in a child getting a fraction of a 200 vs a fraction of a 300+ lbs treadmill from getting pulled under is massive.
> A majority of the google image results for "treadmill" don't have an obvious guard, so the Peloton one doesn't seem uniquely dangerous.
Seem being the key word.
Please look at the consumer report[1], section "Unique Hazards".
The TL;DR is that height off the ground, belt design, and other factors form a uniquely unsafe combination that results in Peloton causing injuries that other treadmills don't cause.
Edit: Pelotons are really heavy as well starting at about 300 lbs. Most of the ones in that weight class seem to have safety bars? The difference in a child getting a fraction of a 200 vs a fraction of a 300+ lbs treadmill from getting pulled under is massive.