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Another children’s product has recently been recalled. On May 19, 2017, Graco Children’s Products, Inc., sent a letter to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announcing the recall of the Graco “My Ride” child seat. They implemented the recall because the seats may not adequately restrain children during a crash.

Car Seat Harnesses Subject to Breakage

According to the Graco website, the My Ride seat did not perform as expected during a test of the individual harness restraint component. The webbing on the My Ride 65 convertible car seat didn’t meet federal requirements for breaking strength. This could increase the risk of child injury in an automobile crash. So far, no injuries have been reported.

The recall affects about 25,500 car seats produced between May 16, 2014 and August 1, 2014. The company lists the model numbers affected on their web page. They have advised consumers to look on or under the back of the car seat, find the white label, and note the model number and the date of manufacture. Next, consumers must identify the tag on the webbing of the harness on the back of the car seat and make note of the date at the bottom of the tag.

Finally, consumers can then enter the model number, date manufactured, and webbing tag code into the form on the website to determine if their car seat is one of those recalled. If it is, consumers can return the seats for free replacement kits that will contain new harness restraints and installation instructions. The official recall is expected to begin on July 17, 2017.

Car Seat Harnesses Subject to Breakage

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that every hour, nearly 150 children between the ages of 0 and 19 are treated in emergency departments for injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes. In fact, children ages 5 to 19 are more likely to die from crash-related injuries than from any other type of injury.

A 2010 study by the NHTSA reported that child safety seats were effective in reducing these types of injuries in any crash type. More specifically:

  • In rollover crashes, the incidence rate of incapacitating injuries among unrestrained children was almost three times that for restrained children.
  • In near-side impacts, unrestrained children were eight times more likely to sustain incapacitating injuries than children who were restrained in child safety seats.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) states that deaths of children younger than 13 in car accidents have declined since 1975, but that crashes still cause one of every four unintentional deaths. Proper restraint use can reduce these fatalities.

“Restraining children in rear seats instead of front seats reduces fatal injury risk by about three-quarters for children up to age 3, and almost half for children ages 4 to 8.”

For more information on recent child safety seat recalls, see carseat.org and this list of recalls by SafetyBeltSafe.

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