According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle accidents are among the leading causes of death in children. Safe driving and having the appropriate safety gear can help keep children safe in the car. Younger children should be placed in appropriately sized car seats and booster seats to keep them safe. A properly sized and installed car seat can reduce child deaths by 71%. However, if a car seat is defective in some way, it can be dangerous.
Common Car Seat Defects
Every year some car seats are recalled due to a defect in the design or the manufacturing. Some common car seat defects that lead to recalls include:
- Defective buckling mechanisms—a functioning buckle on a seatbelt is crucial for safety. If a buckle does not latch properly or can be easily undone by a child, it could fail during a car accident, and a child could be seriously injured.
- Defective chest clips—the chest clips on a car seat are also essential for ensuring a child is secured. They are used for properly positioning a harness on a child. A chest clip that doesn’t latch or can be undone by a child can render the car seat ineffective.
- Inadequate padding—the padding in a car seat is used to protect a child from the impact of a car accident. Without such protection, a child may become injured in an accident.
- Defective carrying handles—infant car seats come equipped with handles so that they can be used as infant seats outside of the car. If these handles fail, they can cause a child to tip forward and fall on the ground.
- Defective base units—some car seats use interchangeable bases so that a car seat can be used in different vehicles. If these base units fail to adequately lock a seat in place, the force of the impact could cause the car seat to fly through the car resulting in serious injuries.
- Inadequate installation instructions—it is essential for a safety that a car seat is properly installed in a vehicle. If the instructions are inadequate, the car seat will not be safe.
Has Your Car Seat Been Recalled?
If you have concerns about the safety of your child’s car seat, you can check for a recall on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall database.
Contact an Experienced Product Liability Attorney
If your child has been injured due to a defective car seat, you should consult with an experienced attorney. For over 25 years, Gregg Goldfarb has been helping the victims of defective products. Contact us online or call us at 305-374-7000 to schedule a free consultation.