Britax Strollers Recalled Due to Damaged Receiver Mount. Britax is recalling roughly 700,000 strollers due to a fall hazard. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the recall on Feb. 16, 2017. The recall affects Britax B-Agile and BOB Motion Strollers with Click & Go receivers. The car seat can fall unexpectedly due to a damaged receiver mount, injuring infants.
The product liability attorneys at Parker Waichman LLP have decades of experience representing consumers in lawsuits over allegedly defective or unsafe products. The firm continues to offer free legal consultations to individuals with questions about filing a consumer fraud class action lawsuit.
According to the alert, Britax is aware of 33 cases where the car seat disconnected from the stroller unexpectedly and fell to the ground. A total of 26 children were injured due to falling, suffering from scratches, bruises, cuts and bumps to the head. The company says it received 1,337 reports of strollers with damaged Click & Go receiver mounts.
“A damaged receiver mount on the stroller can cause the car seat to disengage and fall unexpectedly, posing a fall hazard to infants in the car seat,” the alert states.
The recall affects 676,000 units in the United States, as well as 36,400 units in Canada and 4,600 units in Mexico. The stroller attaches to the car seat carrier as a travel system.
According to the recall alert posted on the CPSC website, the strollers are “folding, single or double occupant strollers and have Click & Go receiver mounts that attach the car seat carrier to the stroller frame,” The recall affects all colors of the stroller. Consumers can locate the model number of the stroller on the inside of the metal frame near the right wheel for single strollers. On double strollers, the model number is located in the front middle underside of the frame.
Consumers who own the strollers are urged to stop using their Click & Go receiver mounts immediately. The suggested remedy is a repair kit for single strollers. For recalled double strollers, the alert says, owners should stop using them with car seats attached. “Consumers can continue to use their stroller or car seat independently without the car seat attached to the stroller,” the alert states.
The recalled strollers were sold at retail locations including Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, Target and other stores around the country. Online, the strollers were available through Amazon.com, albeebaby.com, buybuybaby.com, diapers.com, ToysRUs.com and other websites. The Britax strollers were sold from May 2011 through February 2017; prices ranged between $250 and $470 for strollers and travel systems.
Product Liability Lawsuit Background
Product liability law is the law that makes manufacturers liable for a defective or dangerous consumer product. Products are generally required to meet ordinary expectations of the consumer. If a product is defective in a way that causes injury, then that product does not meet ordinary expectations of the consumer.
Product liability law varies by state. Consumers can sue for negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty.
When filing a product liability lawsuit, the consumer plaintiff must be able to prove that the product was defective. The injury alleged in the lawsuit must stem from this product defect. Types of defects include design defect, manufacturing defect and marketing defects. A design defect is when a product is inherently defective because of the way it is designed. A manufacturing defect means that the product was not inherently defective, but was made defective through the manufacturing process. For example, a product could have been assembled in a way that made the product dangerous. Marketing defects relate to the way the product is advertised. A product liability lawsuit alleging marketing defects may allege that the manufacturer failed to provide adequate warning. Marketing defects may also include failure to provide adequate instructions.
Defective consumer products sometimes lead to class action lawsuits, in which one complaint represents numerous plaintiffs. These plaintiffs are collectively referred to as a “class”. In a class action lawsuit, the plaintiff class allege that they were wronged in the same way by a common defendant. This is different from a mass tort, where plaintiffs file their own individual lawsuits which are subsequently grouped together in one court. In a mass tort, such as a multidistrict litigation (MDL), plaintiff injuries may vary in severity between claims.
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