Doug / 01-23-2014 / Auto Accidents

Is Your Child’s Safety Seat Really Safe?

Combi USA, Inc. (Combi) has acknowledged a defect affecting potentially 33,139 units of child restraints it manufactured between January 2007 and December of 2012.  The defect affects model 8220 (Coccoro) and model 8836 (Zeus 360).

The child restraints are anticipated to be recalled due to the harness webbing failing to meet minimum breaking strength requirements, as set out in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213, “Child Restraint Systems”.  The failure to comply with the standard risks that in the event of a crash, the child restraint may be adequately secure a child, resulting in increased risk of injury to a child seated in the restraint.

Combi will notify registered owners and provide harness replacement sets free along with instructions on how to make necessary repairs to the child restraint. Individuals who have purchased the recalled device may contact Combi at 1-800-543-7734 or on their website at www.combi-intl.com. The company has not cautioned discontinued use of the child restraint and in fact has backed the continued use of the seats until the kits are made available to repair the seats and comply with Federal Standards.  Currently the recall is scheduled to begin by February 6, 2014.

Child restraints are required to help decline child fatalities in car crashes. Among children under 5 years old, an estimated 451 live were saved in 2004 by the use of a child restraint.  Child safety seats can reduce fatal injury by 71 % for infants and 54 % for toddlers, ages 1-4.  Research has shown that though 96 % of parents and caregivers believe their child safety seta is properly installed 7 out of 10 children are improperly restrained.  The use of a booster seat is 60 % safer for kids then being restrained by a standard seatbelt system.

The most common mistakes I installation and use of safety seats are defective or broken safety seats, not using the proper seat for a child’s age/size, not placing the seat in the proper direction and incorrect installation and or securing of the safety seat.

Concerned consumers with questions about recalls on child restraints and other vehicle related questions and concerns can be addressed by contacting National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty: 1-800-424-9153); or by going to https://www.safercar.gov.

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