Graco Children’s Products Recalls 3.7 Million Child Restraint Seats

Graco Children’s Products recently recalled 3.7 million child restraint seats because of problems with the buckle design. In February of this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a special order demanding more information about other car seat models and pressed for recall of an additional 1.8 million child restraint seats. The NHTSA threatened to take legal action against Graco if the manufacturer refused to conduct a voluntary recall.

The restraint system effectively serves its primary purpose of holding a child in place during an accident. However, the buckle may make removing the child difficult in an emergency situation — for example, to administer medical treatment to an injured child or to remove the child from a burning vehicle. If the buckle becomes coated in gook, sticky liquids and food particles — as typically happens to any item occupied by a baby or a toddler — the buckle begins to stick. Parents are therefore unable to unlatch the buckle quickly. The New York Times reports one mother’s complaint that it took her 45 minutes to get her daughter out of the seat. She succeeded only by loosening the straps and pulling the young girl between them — not by unlatching the buckle.

The company is offering free replacement buckles to parents who own an affected Graco child restraint system model.

Models subject to the current recall include certain years of production of the following seats:

• Argos 70
• Argos 70 Elite
• Classic Ride 50
• Comfort Sport
• Ready Ride
• Cozy Cline
• Toddler SafeSeat – Step 2
• My Ride 65
• My Ride 65 with Safety Surround
• My Ride 70
• My Size 70
• Size4Me 70
• Head Wise 70 with Safety Surround
• Nautilus 3-in-1
• Nautilus Plus
• Nautilus Elite
• Smart Seat
• Smart Seat with Safety Surround