Graco Children’s Products announced Tuesday that they are recalling 1.9 million infant car seats following a five-month spat with U.S. safety regulators.
Graco has agreed to demands from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall the product.
The agency requested the recall after complaints that the harness buckle sometimes made it difficult to remove children. Earlier this year, the company recalled 4.2 million toddler seats because the harness buckle can get stuck, but it resisted the agency’s demand to recall the infant seats.
Graco argued that infant seats are used differently than the toddler seats, and in an emergency, an adult can remove the whole seat as opposed to using the buckle.
When Graco announced the initial recall in February, NHTSA sent Graco a letter questioning why the infant seats were not included in the recall. The agency said that parents have filed complaints with the agency and the company about stuck buckles on the infant seats.
The letter also accused Graco of soft-pedaling the recall with “incomplete and misleading” documents that will be seen by consumers. The agency threatened civil penalties.
Graco told the Associated Press at that time that rear-facing infant seats weren’t being recalled because infants don’t get food or drinks on their seats. Graco agreed to send free replacement buckles to owners of infant seats upon request.
This is now the largest car seat recall in American history at 6.1 million car seats.
To determine whether or not the buckle on your Graco infant car seat is recalled, enter the model name and date of manufacture on GracoBuckleRecall.com.
If your baby or toddler has been injured as a result of a defective product, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Contact one of our Gacovino Lake attorneys at 1-800-246-HURT (4878) for more information.
