Graco Recalls Over 25,000 Car Seats
As reported by Today, leading child product company Graco has recalled more than 25,000 car seats because of injury risk.
The defective product in question is Graco’s popular My Ride 65 model, which has webbing on its child restraints that can fail. This recall is impacting 25,494 seats that were made in the summer of 2014 and sold across Canada and the United States, namely model numbers 1794334,1813015, 1813074, 1853478, 1871689, 1872691, 1877535 and 1908152. Graco is reportedly going to reach out to affected consumers and distribute replacement restraints starting in July, and concerned parents can contact the company right now for more information.
This recall was triggered by the product’s failure in a safety test carried out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). According to the NHTSA’s official website, when a load was applied to the car seat, the restraints snapped, with the webbing being the weak point . Luckily, no injuries or deaths have been reported so far as a result of the defective seats.
Child product recalls on the rise
Many child products have been the subject of recalls in recent years, with nursery items being the leading recall category, according to WLTX 19 News. When researchers took a look at Emergency Room data for children in the US over the last 20 years, they found that more than 66,000 children aged three years or younger were treated for injuries related to products you’d find in a baby’s bedroom and items such as car seats and infant cribs. This works out to an average of one child being injured by a defective product every eight minutes. Most reported injuries involved children falling from the products, with around 80 percent of the damage occurring to the neck, face and head. Many of the incidents involved concussions, which are very serious injuries in general, especially for young children.
During the last eight-year period the study evaluated, the number of injuries spiked by 25 percent, and recalls of nursery products rose sharply. Today, there is a recall of a nursery product around every two weeks on average, and experts say manufacturers need to do better when it comes to taking action and informing parents about a dangerous product. Research has shown that around 80 percent of recalled children’s products remain in households across the country, with many parents unaware they have a dangerous item in their home because of the lack of outreach.
On top of that, the study found that it took an average of 64 reported incidents before the manufacturers issued a recall. Safety experts recommend that parents follow the “4 Rs” – research the product, check for recalls, complete product registration and read the manual – to help ensure safe product use and reduce the chances of having an unsafe product in the home after a recall has been issued.
If you or someone in your home has been harmed by a defective product, speak to an experienced auto accident attorney Denver CO trusts about your legal rights today.
Thanks to our friends Richard J. Banta, P.C. for their insight into Graco recalls.
