Defective Child Seats

Child safety seats are an effective means for keeping children safe from serious injury in the event of an accident.  In recent years, state legislatures have been pro-active in mandating child safety seats for all children up to a certain age (usually 8) and/or height requirement (usually 4'9").  State laws have also been vigilant about requiring that car seats be properly installed, and many safety checkpoints have been established to inspect car seat installations and instruct parents on proper installation. 

What remains missing, however, is a regulatory scheme holding child safety seat manufacturers to the same kinds of standards that automobile manufacturers are held to.  Despite parents' diligence in purchasing and installing car seats for their children, dangerous designs and faulty manufactures continue to persist.  Once again, manufacturers cutting costs in the design, testing, and manufacturing stages has produced needless and tragic outcomes. 

Consumers have options to help protect themselves from danger.  When buying a child safety seat, it can be registered with the manufacturer or with the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).  Registering the car seat will help to ensure that the owner is promptly notified in the event of a safety recall of the car seat.

The wide diversity in the marketplace of car seat manufacturers, styles and designs presents a bewildering array of installation issues to confuse parents and child care providers.  In fact, the NHTSA estimates that 3 out of 4 car seats may not be installed properly.  Car seat owners can have their child safety seats inspected at a child safety seat inspection station to help ensure the seat is safely installed.

Sadly, despite parents' best efforts to provide the utmost safety for their children, a defective car seat may still fail at a critical moment, causing serious injury or death.  In the event such a tragedy occurs, the manufacturer responsible needs to be held accountable and forced to change its design or manufacturing process, so that this tragedy cannot be repeated.

The experienced product liability lawyers at Langdon & Emison have the knowledge and skill necessary to litigate claims arising out of defective products and automobile accidents, including those involving child safety seats.  If a child in your family has been injured as a result of a defective child safety seat, contact the attorneys at Langdon & Emison for a free consultation.