This week, recalls have been issued for child booster car seats across a variety of companies. As reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), millions of child booster seats have been issued in a recall due to different defects for each company’s line of child booster seat products.
Diono, formerly known as Sunshine Kids Juvenile, has issued a recall for almost 520,00 convertible and car booster seats “that have an increased risk of a chest injury in an event of a crash when the seat is used with a lap belt.” The recalled models include Radian R100, Radian R120, Radian RXT, Olympia, Pacifica and Rainier model convertible and car booster seats, with all being manufactured between Nov. 25, 2013 and Sept. 5, 2017. Fortunately, no injuries or deaths have been reported by Diono.
Britax Child Safety Inc. has also issued a recall for over 200,000 child booster seats due to a malfunction with the chest clip originally sold with the booster seats, as it may break and become a choking hazard for the child occupant. The recalled models include B-Safe 35, B-Safe 35 Travel Systems, B-Safe 35 Elite, B-Safe 35 Elite Systems and BOB B-Safe rear-facing models. According to the NHSTA, the recalled units “have a center tab on the chest clip labeled ‘ABS’ that may break”.
Also included in the nationwide recall is products made by Harmony Juvenile Products. As reported by the NHSTA, Harmony Juvenile products has recalled nearly 150,000 Big Booster Deluxe model booster seats that “in an event of a crash, the seat belt may cause excessive force to be applied to the restrained child’s seat.” The recall was first reported in June, and the company is providing updates as a remedy is developed.
The last included company is Graco Children’s Products Inc. As reported by the NHSTA, Graco Children’s Products is recalling over 25,000 of the My Ride 65 convertible car booster seats because “in the event of a crash, the child seat webbing may not adequately restrain the child.” The affected model numbers include 1871689, 1908152, 1853478, 1813015, and 1794334. Graco has reported that it plans to issue a replacement harness for free to all affected customer.
Truly, it hasn’t been the best year for child car booster seats. In the last two years, millions of booster seats have been recalled at various times for unsafe, hazardous, or defective qualities. Fortunately, we don’t know of any children injured or killed due to these recalled products, but that doesn’t put customers completely out of the clear. Because recalls are usually enacted voluntarily, companies are not eager to report their defective products. Only 30% of recalled products make their way back to the manufacturer, and worse, many are moved to consignment shops or goodwill for the next unsuspecting customer.
Parents and grandparents have to investigate the safety of products bought for their children and grandchildren. And while many of the recalls include free repairs and replacements, to keep children safe you have to be, as always, proactive.
Alexander Law Group, LLP attorneys are available to answer your questions. We share the results of our research and experience in personal injury litigation knowing that a “rising tide raises all ships.” We are safety lawyers committed to making a difference for our clients and to providing our friends and colleagues with practical articles on topics related to our law practice. We have been doing it on the internet since 1994.
