Kolcraft Strollers Recalled For Laceration, Amputation Hazards

Kolcraft strollers are being recalled for laceration and amputation hazards, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada (HC) just announced.

About 36,000 Kolcraft Contours Options three- and four-wheeled strollers are being recalled in the United States; another 270 defective strollers are being recalled in Canada.

The recalled Kolcraft Contours Options three- and four-wheeled strollers were manufactured in China by Kolcraft Enterprises Inc., of Chicago, Illinois, and sold at juvenile product specialty stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com, Target.com, and ToysRUs.com from January 2006 and June 2012. The strollers sold for between $150 and $160; were manufactured from January 2006 through November 2009; and were sold in a variety of color schemes.

A child or consumer’s finger can become caught in the opening created when locking and unlocking the hinge mechanism, which is used to adjust the strollers’ handlebars. This presents an amputation and laceration hazard to children and the adults handling the stroller. To date, Kolcraft and the CPSC have received five reports of injuries involving the hinge mechanism, including reports of three children whose fingertips were amputated and two adults whose fingers were either smashed or lacerated.

This recall involves Kolcraft Contours Options three- and four-wheeled strollers with model numbers starting with ZL002, ZL005, ZL008, ZL015, and ZL018. On the ZL002 model, the model number and date of manufacture is printed on a sticker above the left wheel. On the ZL005, ZL008, ZL015, and ZL018 models, the model number and date of manufacture is printed on a label sewn into the edge of back of the stroller seat pad.

Consumers are advised to immediately stop using the product and contact the company to receive a free repair kit. Kolcraft can be reached, toll-free, at 1.800.453.7673 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:45 p.m., Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Thursday; between 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., ET, Friday; or at the firm’s website at www.kolcraft.com.

This is not the first time we’ve written about stroller recalls due to amputation hazards. Last year, we wrote about three such recalls:

•  phil&teds USA recalled 54,000 of its Clip-On Chairs following a number of injury reports, including an amputation. phil&teds and CPSC received a total of 19 reports of the chairs falling from different table surfaces; five reports involved injuries and two injury reports involved children’s fingers being severely pinched, lacerated, crushed, or amputated. Three other injury reports involved bruising after a chair abruptly detached and a child struck the table or floor.
•  After at least five more children had fingers amputated by defective Maclaren strollers, the firm reissued a prior recall (November 2009) when it learned that the hinge mechanism posed a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to children when the consumer unfolds/opens the stroller. At the time of the first recall, 15 incidents, including a dozen amputations, were reported to Maclaren. Since the original recall, 37 more incidents involving injuries to children were reported. In addition to the five amputations, there were 16 additional lacerations and 16 additional fingertip entrapments/bruising reported. In total, Maclaren received 149 reports of incidents with the strollers.
• Jogging Strollers, imported by phil&teds USA Inc., were recalled for repair for amputation and laceration hazards. About 22,000 phil&teds Jogging Strollers were recalled in the U.S. and 7,200 were recalled in Canada due to amputation and laceration hazards. phil&teds received three reports of incidents resulting in injuries to the adult users, including a fingertip amputation and two reports of lacerations.