In 1985, New York State implemented its first seat belt law, which made federally approved child safety seats mandatory for children under 4. While this law has saved countless lives, it is unfortunate that many children have been injured or have died as a result of flaws and defects in the child seats themselves.
In the past decade alone, over 11 million car seats in the United States have been recalled due to defects in design and integrity. All of the major child seat manufacturers have had recalls of their child seats, including Britax, Kolcraft, Fisher-Price, Evenlfo, Graco, Century and Cosco.
There are many ways in which children can be injured from child car seat defects. One of the most common injuries from portable infant seats is due to handle failure, where the handles break while the child is being carried in the seat. Other common injuries result from improper padding in the seat, clip defects on chest clips in 5-point harness seats, buckle defects, and defects in the locking mechanism of detachable infant seats.
Case in point - In April of 2008, Evenflo recalled two models of their Discovery Infant Car Seat that had been sold in New York State due to a manufacturing error that could ultimately cause the seat to separate from the base, which could result in serious injury to the child in a car accident.
Besides manufacturing flaws and defects, child car seats are notoriously complicated and difficult to install properly. Studies show that 80% of parents unknowingly install their children's car seats incorrectly.
Child car seat manufacturers need to end their practices of shoddy workmanship and lack of proper safety testing. They need to simplify confusing installation procedures. One way to get this message to child seat manufacturers is to hold them liable for every injury a child receives as a result of a defective car seat. Personal injury lawyers are a good way to make these manufacturers responsible for their careless breeches in workmanship and safety.
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