Graco Children’s Products already issued a recall for 3.8 million car seats last month, but today it has added another 403,000 seats to the total.
The reason for the recall is a problem with the harness buckles, and it’s likely not what you think. The problem isn’t that the buckles don’t hold a child safely in their seats, but that they can become stuck.
The buckles run into problems if they become gummed up with food or drink, which any parent knows is pretty much the standard. If that happens, the mechanism can refuse to release leaving a child stuck in the seat.
Although this might prove a bothersome problem getting your child out of the seat under normal circumstances, it could prove to be a significant safety issue during an accident where a child needs to be immediately freed from the vehicle. The problem is severe enough that parents have actually had to cut their kids free of the harness.
The new seats added to the recall include the 2006 through 2014 Argos 70 Elite, Ready Ride, Step 2, My Ride 65 with Safety Surround, My Size 70, Head Wise 70 with Safety Surround, Nautilus 3-in-1, Nautilus Plus, and Smart Seat with Safety Surround.
Despite the large number of seats recalled, 4.2 million in total, the NHTSA is pushing for the addition of certain infant car seats. They say the seats should be recalled because the buckles are the same, but Graco says infant seats are used differently and can easily be removed from the car with the child in them, unlike with car seats for older children.
Owners of seats affected by the recall will be sent repair kits along with instructions on how to clean the buckles correctly. Concerned parents can contact Graco at 1-800-345-4109 for more information on the seats affected.
Check out this video on Ford’s autonomous car safety that’s designed to keep the whole family safe…
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.
