Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog
No one wants to think about their child being in an auto accident, but hundreds of thousands are each year. Of the four million-plus involved in crashes from 2018-2022, more than 540,000 were hurt, and almost 3,000 died. These numbers are a stark reminder of how vital child car seat safety is. This includes ensuring that the seat you have purchased is installed and used correctly, but it also means selecting a safe seat. Regrettably, some injuries occur because a seat was an unsafe product that failed to perform as it should have. When that happens, legal action may be necessary. An experienced Oregon product liability lawyer who handles injuries to minors can provide essential advice about how to proceed in your situation.
Safety recalls of child car seat products remind us that even products like these are susceptible to manufacturing and design defects.
The first of two recent recalls covered a relatively small number of flawed products—between 1,200 and 1,300. According to the recall, some of Britax’s One4Life car seats manufactured in July 2024 had a labeling error. The product is designed to be a long-term solution, functioning as a rear-facing seat for infants and toddlers and a forward-facing seat for bigger kids. The erroneous labels incorrectly stated that the weight limit for using the seat in the rear-facing position was 40 pounds, but the correct weight limit was 35 pounds.
This might seem like trivial minutia, but these details matter. Car seats undergo rigorous testing to determine their functional limits. A child too heavy for a rear-facing car seat can potentially stress the seat’s lower clasps and tethers past their breaking points, putting the seat and the child at risk of breaking free in a crash.
Britax’s seats have been scrutinized before. In 2021, the company faced legal action regarding two different car seat models. According to a federal class action lawsuit in California, the company’s Pioneer and Frontier ClickTight seats were defective. Specifically, the complaint asserted that a hardware failure could allow “the structure surrounding the harness and the top tether” to detach from the seat.
The parties settled the case in early 2022.
Debris and an Adjuster Button Defect
The newer recall covers a vastly larger number of car seats with an arguably more significant problem. Nuna Baby Essentials has recalled more than 608,000 of its Rava car seats manufactured between July 2016 and October 2023.
According to reports, a design defect exists in some of the seats’ front harness adjuster buttons. (This button, located in the lower center of the seat, locks the tether strap into place, allowing the tethers to securely strap the child in place in the seat.) According to the recall, a gap exists in the button apparatus that can allow debris to enter the area. This debris can result in the button failing, which allows the harness to loosen and fail to keep the child securely in his/her seat.
When parents purchase products for their children, especially products specifically intended to enhance their safety, they expect they are reliable and will function as intended, such as a car seat protecting a child in an auto accident. When these products do not do what they should, the reasons often vary. It may be a design defect or a manufacturing defect. The manufacturer may been negligent in testing or inspecting the unsafe product and addressing the defect. An experienced product liability lawyer can be essential in doing the necessary investigation and discovery to get to the source of the problem.
If your child has been hurt by a defective product, those responsible should be held accountable. If your child has been hurt by a defective product, the Oregon child injury attorneys at Kaplan Law LLC are here to help you pursue justice. To learn more, call (503) 226-3844 today or contact us online to schedule your free consultation.
