Britax Recalls Child Safety Seats for Harness Defect

Britax, a top child safety seat company headquartered in South Carolina, recently announced a recall on its ClickTight Convertible safety seat after a report found problems with the harness. The defect could affect over 200,000 products, rendering them completely useless to protect infants and children.

Britax is all about safely transporting children. They produce and sell everything from strollers to car safety seats. So when a defect rendered their ClickTight child car seats unsafe, it was cause for concern.
In March, 2015, Consumer Reports issued a warning. Britax's ClickTight car seats could have a strap that is not connected to the harness:

On the Boulevard, Marathon and Advocate ClickTight models, the harness straps end with a sewn loop that slides over and then into a steel hook. With the seats we bought, the loop had been pulled over the anchor but not engaged fully around the hook. If the hook is not engaged, the harness loop could pull completely off the anchor during normal use. To a consumer, the lack of attachment may not be obvious without examining the lower anchor closely.

In response, Britax confirmed the performance of its child safety vehicles with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and sent out email notices to the registered owners affected. According to Britax, the problem is that the harness adjuster button can remain in the "release" position after the harness is engaged. As a result, children who move around in their ClickTight child safety seats may gradually loosen the harness until it is not restraining the child at all.

To solve this, the company announced it will send out a non-toxic food-grade lubricant that parents can apply to the ClickTight harness button. The remedy kit will also include instructions and a sticker to show the process was complete.

The biggest challenge with a recall like this is that notice can only go out to registered users. Parents who chose not to register their child car seats may have no knowledge that their harnesses are defective and that their children are not safe.

That is why it is so important, if you or someone you know has purchased a Britax child safety seat in the past year, that you use your model number to look up your child's car seat on the recall website. All together, 37 different brands were affected, so parents may not realize they need to get a kit unless they take the time to look it up.

There is nothing more important to new parents than their child's safety. Don't take a chance. Make sure your child's car seat is safe today.

Dani K. Liblang is a consumer protection attorney at The Liblang Law Firm, P.C. She represents families who have suffered injuries because of defective products, including car seats. If you or someone you know has had an accident, contact The Liblang Law Firm, P.C., for a free consultation today.