Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

In one of the biggest car seat recalls in history, Graco issued a recall last week of 3.8 million car safety seats over concerns that children may become trapped by buckles that may not unlatch.

The recall covers 11 models produced between 2009 and 2013 by Graco Children’s Products, Inc. of Atlanta. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this recall marks the fourth largest child seat recall in U.S. history. NHTSA said that in the event of an accident, such a problem with the buckle could cause difficulty in removing a child from the restraint, thereby increasing the risk for serious injury or death in the event of a motor vehicle crash, fire, or other type of emergency.

Though the company has already issued a voluntary recall for 11 models, the company is receiving backlash from many federal regulators, including NHTSA who allege Graco excluded seven rear-facing infant car seat models which have the same buckles, from their recall. Both Graco and NHTSA have received numerous complaints about stuck buckles on those infant seats. According to a letter written to Graco by NHTSA, some consumers have even had to resort to the “extreme measure” of cutting the harness straps to remove their child from the car seats. NHTSA asked Graco to identify the total number of seats that are potentially defective and explain why it chose to exclude infant seats from the recall. Graco estimated that only 1% of all child seats were affected by the issue.

One potential reason, according to statements by Graco, could be that food and beverages can make the harness buckles in the children’s seats sticky and therefore harder to unlatch over time. The statement continued, saying that rear-facing infant seats do not face that problem because infants don’t get food or drinks on their seats. Graco said that it will send replacement buckles to owners of infant seats upon request. The company also has issued cleaning tips for buckles, as well as issuing instructions on how to replace the buckles (including posting a video to its website) for customers who requested a replacement buckle for their child’s seat.

NHTSA said that parents should check seat buckles and contact Graco for a free replacement, and that people should in the meantime get another safety seat for their child until the seat is fixed by Graco. In addition to Graco seats, NHTSA has since last month, begun investigating four models of Evenflo child safety seats which have a design that is similar to the recalled Graco seats, and potentially uses buckles from the same manufacturer, AmSafe Commercial Products Inc. of Elkhart, Indiana.
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Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has told North American car dealers to discontinue sales of six popular car models with heated seats because the fabric does not comply with U.S. safety codes, and have the potential to catch fire.

The order affects 36,000 trucks, cars, and minivans; which equals to nearly 13% of the inventory currently on dealer lots in the United States. Vehicles being sold in Canada, Mexico, Korea, Israel, and other countries around the globe are also affected however the company did not give exact numbers on their website.

Currently there have been no issues of fires or injuries reported, but Toyota is not legally allowed to sell cars that do not comply with U.S. safety codes. Models affected include Toyota Camery, Avalon, Sienna, and Tacoma models with heated seats that were produced between 2013 and 2014, as well as Corollas and Tundras from 2014. Camry currently ranks as the top-selling mid-size sedan in the United States with more than 408,000 model sales last year alone.

All of the models affected were produced in U.S. factories-some models were exported to South Korea where safety regulators discovered the problem after disassembling the seats and testing individual fabrics. The fire hazard lies in the soft material beneath seat covers that does not adhere to safety codes. Toyota does not yet know how long repairs of this problem will take, however replacement material is currently being manufactured and installed at factories. Dealers will use the material to fix cars that are currently on their lots. Spokesperson for Toyota, John Hanson, said that while he does not have a specific time frame as to how long the repairs will take, he doesn’t expect them to take much time to complete repairs.

For vehicles that are already on the road, Toyota does not believe a recall is necessary since there have been no fires or incidents reported, however it will petition the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ask that the problem be declared “inconsequential” to vehicle safety. The NHTSA is aware of the problem and is monitoring the risk, taking public comments on the proposed petition. If the petition is granted by the NHTSA, there will not be a recall of the impacted vehicles.

The timing of this issue could seemingly not come at a worse time, as much of the United States has been impacted by a record cold snap or “polar vortex” as many have referred to it. Kelley Blue Book analyst, Karl Brauer said that there is a high demand for car models with seat heaters. The company, though a leader in global car sales, is trying to regain its reputation for quality after announcing several massive recalls since 2009 for a variety of defects including braking and accelerating systems, and floor mats.
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