Car accidents are the leading cause of death among children ages 3 to 14 in the United States. Car seats are designed to protect infants and young children in the event of an accident, much like a seat belt protects adults. Proper use of a car seat has been found to reduce fatal injury by 71% for babies, 54% for toddlers, and 45% for children between 4 and 8, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Every year, about one-third of children who are killed in traffic collisions were not restrained in a car seat or seat belt.
While car seats undoubtedly save lives, defective car seats can claim them. In the past few years alone, more than 10 million defective car seats have been recalled by manufacturers due to poor manufacturing, defective buckles that can’t be opened in an emergency, and poor crash test results. Recalls are usually issued once a child has already been hurt, and it’s not unknown how many manufacturers resist recalling car seats that have known defects in the name of profit.
Recent Car Seat Recalls
The most recent recall by Graco of their myride car seat harness, highlights the importance of car seat safety. Numerous car seat recalls happen every year. Parents have to remain vigilant. Parents are encouraged to regularly check the NHTSA website for any new child seat recalls.
Another recent recall affected Recaro Child Safety seats. After resisting a recall for more than 18 months, Recaro eventually recalled nearly 173,000 child car seats in 2015 after the NHTSA found safety issues during routine crash tests in 2013 and 2014 to check for compliance with federal standards. The NHTSA found a major problem with the safety seats: a component designed to secure the top of the seat could break off during car accidents and allow the top of the seat to fly forward. Recaro did not agree with the results and filed a formal petition arguing the recall was unnecessary and the issue was not a serious safety concern.
Recaro didn’t just disagree as to whether this defect was dangerous; it argued that the fact that part of the seat breaks off could be beneficial. Regulators were not persuaded by this argument.
Just a month after Recaro finally agreed to the recall, another major car seat recall affected more than 213,000 Britax Child Safety car seats due to a defect that could endanger children in an accident. This defect involved the harness adjuster button that could stick in the down harness release position, potentially leaving a child inadequately restrained in the event of an accident. Britax has recalled another 200,000 car seats in June of 2017 as well.
These were not even the only major car seat recalls that year; Graco was fined $10 million in April 2015 for delaying a recall of 4 million car seats with defective buckles. This fine was the result of a federal investigation into a five-year delay in the Graco recall of 6 million car seats that could get stuck and fail to open in an emergency. This recall only occurred after several disputes between Graco and the NHTSA in which Graco insisted there was no safety defect.
After a review of documents, the government found Graco was aware of problems with the buckle as early as 2009 and began adopting measures in 2012 to fix it, such as telling car seat owners how to clean the buckles. However, federal safety regulations require manufacturers to notify the safety agency within 5 days of discovering a safety problem.
Liability for Car Seat Defects
Manufacturers of car safety equipment, including child car seats, can be found legally liable for defects in their product — even if a recall is not issued — if the defects lead to injuries or fatalities. Products liability law offers consumers a legal remedy to recover damages suffered as a result of an injury, even when the manufacturer or distributor was unaware of a defect in the product. A success products liability claim will require proving only that it is more likely than not that the car seat was defective in manufacturing, warning, or design and this defect led to injuries.
If your child was hurt in a car accident due to a defective child safety seat, you have the right to compensation from the manufacturer. The Law Offices of David S. Kohm represents families and children who have been hurt due to unsafe car seats by seeking justice and a fair settlement from the manufacturer.
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