Scores of reported injuries have caused the federal government to file suit against the maker of a popular brand of strollers.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that it took the action against Britax after nearly 100 cases of consumers complaining of malfunctions like stroller wheel detachments and other things that were causing injuries.
Fed complaint: Nearly 100 people hurt using jogging stroller
“Children have suffered injuries including a concussion, injuries to the head and face requiring stitches, dental injuries, contusions and abrasions” because of problems with B.O.B. jogging strollers, manufactured by Fort Mill, South Carolina-based Britax Child Safety, the CPSC said in a news release.
On Amazon.com, many customer reviews lauded particular models of B.O.B. jogging strollers, saying that they were the best on the market. Others remarked that the company had made some questionable changes to the strollers that diminished their value.
Indicative of the criticism was this comment from an Amazon.com reviewer:
“Im so sad to say I will be returning this stroller. After a couple of weeks the canopy became extremely squeaky and it couldn’t be fixed with adding silicone spray to the hinges, the canopy became so LOUD to open and close that I decided to just keep it folded, not really what you want to be doing with brand new stroller. Bob has also changed many of the screws on the stroller the way that you can’t completely take all the fabrics out like you used to.”
The CPSC says one of the problems with the stroller in question is that when the front wheel detaches, “the front fork can dig into the ground and cause the stroller to stop abruptly and tip over, posing a risk of serious injuries to children in the stroller and adults operating the stroller.”
The consumer agency said that since January 2012, around 200 consumers have reported front wheel detachments resulting in injuries to 97 people, including 50 children. The CPSC is getting involved because Britax refused to recall the strollers, according to CBS News.
The commission’s complaint seeks an order that Britax stop distributing various models of the strollers, notify the public of the defect and offer those that bought it a remedy “which may include a repair, replacement, or refund.”
Recall alert: Britax’s B-Agile and BOB Motion Strollers
Separately, the consumer agency also recently announced a recall notice for about 700,000 of Britax’s B-Agile and BOB Motion Strollers with Click & Go receivers. The February 16 recall notice says that if the receiver mount on the stroller is damaged, it can cause the car seat “to disengage and fall unexpectedly, posing a fall hazard to infants in the car seat.”
The company has several safety notices on its website related to issues with its products, including stroller hinge and drawstring recalls.
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