Jogging Stroller Recall
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) members voted 3-1 to begin litigation against Britax Child Safety over wheel detachments on 17 models of B.O.B. jogging strollers. The complaint asserts that there is a design flaw that presents a substantial product hazard and that the company needs to conduct a recall.
CPSC alleges that the design of the three-wheeled B.O.B. strollers allows consumers to attach the front wheel and engage the quick release mechanism in a manner that indicates that the wheel is firmly secured to the fork, which is not necessarily the case. Apparently the quick release can fail to secure the front wheel fork, allowing the front wheel to suddenly detach during use, causing a major safety concern. This defect led to an injury pattern in which suddenly wheel-less forks dig into the ground and cause the stroller to stop abruptly and tip over. The agency is aware of roughly 200 incidents with 97 injuries, 50 of them to children.
Nearly 500,000 units were imported into the U.S. between 1997 and 2011. ASTM Standard F15.17 is currently focusing on the issue of wheel detachments and quick release failures. This panel discussed having a visual or audible indicator to show if components are properly tight.
Let Product Safety Consulting be “Your Outsourced Compliance Department®” when seeking product safety certifications.
