Product Liability Law Blog

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has published its newest booster seat ratings to help consumers choose the child safety seat that most safely fits their vehicle. Out of 60 booster seats, the IIHS is offering 9 BEST BETS and 6 GOOD BETS based on their ability to fit with vehicle seat belts so that a child is kept secure and protected during a car crash. The IIHS is not recommending 11 of the child safety seats it examined because it says that they don't allow vehicle seat belts to properly fit over child occupants.

Nearly all of the models sold in the United States were included in this latest round of booster seat evaluations. The IIHS intends to rate future models as they are released.

Our child products liability lawyers know how devastating it can be to have your child seriously injured in a car crash because the booster seat that you thought would keep your baby safe was defective, poorly made, or unsafe. It is important that you are given the information that will allow you to select a seat that will keep your child secure during a motor vehicle crash.

Booster Seats that Made the IIHS 2009 BEST BETS LIST:

• Clek Oobr
• Cosco Juvenile Pronto
• Britax Frontier
• Combi Dakota
backless with clip
• Evenflo Big Kid Amp
backless with clip
• Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR
• Recaro Young Sport
• Eddie Bauer Auto Booster
• Recaro Vivo

The IIHS GOOD BETS 2009 List:

• Combi Kobuk 
backless with clip
• Britax Parkway SG
• Maxi-Cosi Rodi
• Graco TurboBooster
SafeSeat Step 3, Wander
• Evenflo Symphony 65
• Graco TurboBooster
SafeSeat Step 3, Sachi

The NOT RECOMMENDED 2009 Booster Seat List:

• Alpha Omega
• Safety 1st All-in-One
• Alpha Omega Elite
• Eddie Bauer Deluxe
• Combi Kobuk
• Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1
• Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe
• Evenflo Sightseer
• Evenflo Express
• Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite
• Alpha Omega Luxe Echelon

A booster seat is supposed to position your son or daughter in a manner that will allow the vehicle’s seat belt to fit over the body better. The shoulder belt should snugly cross over the center of the child’s shoulder and the lap belt should fit over the child’s upper thighs rather than the soft abdomen area. Failure to ensure a proper fit can result in traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, organ injuries, and death during an auto accident.

It is the responsibility of booster seat manufacturers to make child safety seats that can keep kids safe, are defect free, come with clear instructions for proper use, and caution against any unforeseen hazards.

New booster ratings: 9 BEST BETS & 6 GOOD BETS; 11 out of 60 seats evaluated aren't recommended, IIHS, December 22, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Child Passenger Safety - Studies and Reports, NHTSA

Car Seats, Consumer Reports

Continue reading "IIHS’s New Booster Seat Ratings Offers 9 Best Bets; Doesn't Recommend 11 Child Safety Seats Because of Poor Fit with Seat Belts" »

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Posted In: Child Car Safety Seats , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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More needs to be done to prove child safety when it comes to seat belts—especially as not all US states require that kids ages 4-8 use booster seats. Unfortunately most seat belts are unable to properly fit over the bodies of many children to ensure maximum protection, which can result in catastrophic seat belt-related injuries, known as seat belt syndrome, during a car accident.

Just last year, one 7-year-old’s life changed forever when she sustained seat belt-related injuries during a catastrophic Minnesota car accident. Brynn Duncan was wearing a seat belt, but she had pulled the shoulder belt over her back so it wouldn’t sit on her face. The lap belt she was using fell over her stomach. When the vehicle Brynn was riding in crashed, she sustained a crushing spinal cord injury, bowel and kidney damage, and a bruised heart.

Doctors had to remove her kidney, appendix, and gallbladder. Brynn suffered from infection and depression and sustained permanent injuries. She now requires the use of her wheelchair.

Seat belt syndrome is not uncommon and while US states that don’t require kids, ages 4-8, to use booster seats should consider whether to revise their laws (which many parents turn to for guidance), there is a lot more that auto manufacturers and seat belt designers can do to make sure that kids and adults are properly protected when wearing seat belts and that these safety devices do not cause serious injury.

Injuries linked to seat belt syndrome include liver injuries, abdominal organ injuries, bowel injuries, chest trauma, blood vessel injuries, sternum injuries, spinal cord injuries, and death. Seat belt injuries that occur because the safety device was designed poorly or because the seat belt malfunctioned can be grounds for the injured party and his or her family to file a defective seat belt lawsuit.

Recently, automaker Ford announced its latest development in seat belt technology: inflatable seat belts. Designed to improve rear-seat passenger protection, especially for kids, the belts contain airbags that are supposed to inflate during certain kinds of auto collisions. Hopefully the new belts can provide the added protection kids and adults need during an auto collision.

Ford Says Inflatable Seat Belt Could Reduce Crash Injuries, Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2009

AAA Minnesota/Iowa & Safe Kids Minnesota Support Enhanced Child Restraint Legislation "The Brynn Duncan Law", Reuters, January 6, 2009

Brynn Duncan’s condition worsens, surgery needed, Daily Journal, September 10, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Seat belt syndrome, Wrong Diagnosis

Child restraint laws, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Continue reading "Seat Belt Syndrome: Child Safety Continues to Take a Back Seat " »

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , Catastrophic Injuries , Defective Seatbelt and Restraint System Cases , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars , Minnesota , Motor Vehicle Safety , Seat Belts , Spinal Cord Injuries , States

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Our child seat defect lawyers have handled many cases involving injuries to children and babies who were seated in defective car seats that malfunctioned during motor vehicle crashes. Now, a new study is reporting that infant car seats are involved in thousands of injuries that occur when the safety device is used outside a motor vehicle.

It is indisputable that child car safety seats are necessary and have saved thousands of lives during motor vehicle crashes—that is, as long as the safety device isn’t defective or didn’t malfunction. However, many car seats are also used as handheld baby carriers or can be strapped into a stroller. While this way of traveling and carrying a child may seem convenient and efficient, it isn’t always safe.

According to Shital Parikh, the study’s author and a pediatric orthopedist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, over 43,000 infants in this country who ended up in emergency rooms between 2003 and 2007 got hurt when they fell from child car safety seats that were placed on counters, tables, and other elevated locations. Fall accidents also occurred when the car seats rolled over after they were placed on sofas, beds, and other soft surfaces (increasing the risk of suffocation) or when babies, left unrestrained in the seats, made movements that caused the safety device to fall or tilt over.

Head injuries, fractures, and dislocations were the most common injuries resulting from falls from child safety seats. Three babies died from their injuries.

Per the study, which was based on information from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, 62% of infants injured were younger than 4 months. 8% were hospitalized. Approximately 50% of accidents took place at home.

Parikh is recommending that a child only be placed in an infant car seat when he or she is seated in the vehicle. Otherwise, the baby should be removed from the safety device. Some physical therapists have also raised concerns that babies may be suffering from “container syndrome” caused by too much time on their backs.

Parikh is calling on car seat makers to include warnings about the dangers that can arise when the products are used incorrectly. He also wants them to let parents and guardians know exactly how the child car safety seats should be used. He thinks that car seat manufacturers should design more child car seats.

While there are steps that you can take to make sure that you’ve purchased the right seat for your child and the vehicle and that the safety device is properly assembled and your son or daughter is properly secured, unfortunately there are many child car safety seats that are designed defectively and can cause more harm than good during a catastrophic car crash.

Contact our auto products liability lawyers today about your injuries to children case.

Car seats can be dangerous outside the car, USA Today, October 19, 2009

Babies Injured in Car Seats Used Outside of Cars, AJC, October 20, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Child Passenger Safety, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

American Academy of Pediatrics

Crash Survivor Network

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Posted In: Child Car Safety Seats , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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A jury has awarded a 12-year-old boy a $12 million tire tread separation verdict for injuries he sustained in a 2006 New Years Eve auto accident in Mexico. Jesus Guzman, who was 10 at the time, is now paralyzed. The tire was a Goodrich tire made by Michelin & Cie.

The deadly motor vehicle accident happened outside Matamoros when one of the tires of a 2002 Ford F-250 pickup truck failed, causing the motor vehicle to swerve head on into a Chevrolet suburban. Everyone riding the SUV died—four of the casualties were under age 14. Loved ones who were riding in the pickup truck along with Guzman were injured.

According to the defective tire lawsuit involving injuries to a child, leaking roofs and broken air conditioners at a Michelin plant caused the tire maker’s machines to make defective tires that could likely fail. By issuing its $11.96 million verdict against Michelin for Guzman's spinal cord injury, the Texas jury rejected the tire manufacturer’s claim that the Ford truck’s bumper had scraped off the top of the tire.

Tire Tread Separation
The treads of a tire (especially steel-belted radial tires) can become separated. Because the steel does not properly adhere to the tire, driving at high speeds or hot weather can cause the separation to happen. Tire tread separation is linked to design and manufacturing defects.

Tire tread separation can lead to tire blowouts that can cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle and drive off the road, into oncoming traffic, or roll over. SUV’s are especially prone to rollover crashes during a tire blowout.

The fallout from being involved in an auto accident caused by tire tread separation can be catastrophic.

Just last week, the six members of the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir were hurt during a van rollover crash that was caused by what investigators believe was tire failure. Head trauma and broken bones were some of the injuries that the victims sustained.

Auto crashes that are a result of tire defects, including tire failure, tire tread separation, tire blowouts, and tire/rim explosions are preventable. This is one reason that a tire maker should be held liable for auto products liability. Car crashes can be deadly, which is why it is a tire manufacturer’s responsibility to make sure that their tires are free from defects that could cause a deadly motor vehicle accident.

Michelin Tire Tread Separation Lawsuit Results in $12M Verdict, AboutLawsuits, September 21, 2009

Michelin Loses $12 Million Verdict in Suit Over Crash, Bloomberg.com, September 10, 2009

Chicago's Scotland Yard Gospel Choir injured in van accident, Chicago Sun-Times, September 25, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Tires, NHTSA

Consumer Reports

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars , Spinal Cord Injuries , States , Texas , Tires

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According to EMS Magazine, some 475,000 US kids in the 14 and under age group suffer from traumatic brain injuries. While 90% of TBI kid patients are seen in emergency rooms and then released, there are still over 47,000 patients a year who end up hospitalized because of a TBI.

Fall accidents, car accidents, and incidents involving the victim getting hit by or struck against a hard object continue to be the most common causes of traumatic brain injuries in the US. 2,685 children die each year because of TBIs while more than 30,000 kids with TBIs will sustain permanent disabilities.

Our injuries to children and minors lawyers represent the families of babies, toddlers, young children, adolescents, and teenagers who were seriously injured in personal injury accidents. Many of our injuries to minors cases involve children who were injured or killed because of a defective product. Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, PC is one of the most recognized products liability law firms in the US.

Traumatic brain injuries—whether sustained in a car crash, from a drowning accident, in a fall accident at the playground, because the child car safety seat or seatbelt restraint system was defective, during a suffocation accident that occurred because a crib was defectively designed, or from a choking accident that happened because a child swallowed a defective toy part—can drastically alter the life of the child victim and his or her family forever.

A TBI can result in impaired vision, hearing problems, speech difficulties, muscle spasticity, seizures, paralysis, memory deficiencies, communication problems, impaired writing and reading abilities, impaired judgment, mood swings, anxiety, agitation, depression, and problems relating to others.

A TBI's degree of severity will determine the problems that can result from this type of head injury. In many instances, a child with a TBI will need special services to cope with living with a traumatic brain injury, and the ongoing therapy and medical help can become very costly. There are also other damages that a TBI victim can suffer, including loss of the ability to live a normal life, loss of independence, or the inability to enjoy the normal activities that most kids without a traumatic brain injury get to experience.

If your child’s TBI occurred because a product manufacturer, a premise owner, a car driver, a trucker, a motorcyclist, or another party was negligent or careless, your son or daughter may be entitled to personal injury recovery.

Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, EMS Responder

Traumatic Brain Injury, Kidsource.com

Related Web Resources:
Traumatic Brain Injury Information Page, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

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Posted In: Catastrophic Injuries , Infant Products , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars , Motor Vehicle Safety , Nursery Products , Playground Products , Swimming Pools , Toys , Traumatic Brain Injuries

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is sponsoring Child Passenger Safety Week. From September 12 – 18, parents can go to a free safety seat inspection station where safety technicians can show them how to properly install a child safety seat. Please click on the link provided below to find an inspection station near you.

The NHTSA says child safety seat use is at its highest ever:

Kids 0-12 months: 99% child safety seat use
1-3 years: 92% child safety seat use
4-7 years: 89% child safety seat use

Also, drivers who used seat belts were more likely to place children in child safety seats than motorists who were unbelted.

Thousands of safety seat inspection sites have been set up throughout the US. While the NHTSA has found that most young children are using child safety seats many of them are not properly secured in the restraint devices. This means that these kids are still susceptible to the dangers that parents are trying to avoid by properly restraining them.

Out of every four child restraint systems in use, three of them aren't used correctly. In some instances, the seats that were selected for certain children was not appropriate for their weight or age, children were not properly secured in their seats, or the restraint systems were not correctly attached to vehicles.

Our child seat defect law firm cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you choose the right child safety seat for your son or daughter. Not only should the restraint system be the appropriate one for your child’s age and weight, but you must make sure that your child and the restraint system are secured correctly. It is also the responsibility of the child safety seat manufacturer to make sure that the seat is free from design or malfunction defects, comes with the proper and complete instructions, is marketed correctly and appropriately, and warns of any risks and dangers that can result from use. Defects to child safety seats can prove fatal during a car crash and may result in traumatic brain injuries, crush injuries, and even death.

Our child seat defect lawyers are nationally recognized for our work representing clients with injuries to minors cases whose children were hurt in auto accidents because a child safety seat manufacturer was negligent or because of some auto defect that proved catastrophic.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Launches Child Passenger Safety Week, NHTSA, September 10, 2009

Child Restraint Use in 2008 (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2009, American Academy of Pediatrics

Seat Inspection Station Locator

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Posted In: Child Car Safety Seats , Defective Seatbelt and Restraint System Cases , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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While child car safety seats are a must for newborns riding in cars, the seats can also cause a baby to experience breathing problems. Infants have to be placed in an upright position when in a child safety seat. However, according to a new study published in Pediatrics, this can cause the baby’s chest wall to become compressed, decreasing airway size and lowering oxygen levels in the blood.

T. Bernard Kinane, Massachusetts General Hospital’s chief of pulmonary pediatrics, says that 20% of newborns that are placed in car beds and car seats may experience mild respiratory compromise. This can increase the chances that an infant will experience breathing problems.

The study examined 200 healthy newborns. Each baby was placed in a car bed for 60 minutes, a hospital crib for 30 minutes, and a car seat for 60 minutes. The infants' oxygen levels were lower when they were in the car beds and car seats than when they were in the hospital cribs. In a car seat, the babies’ average oxygen saturation level was 95.7%, 96.3% in a car bed, and 97.9% in a hospital crib.

This is important to note, as many parents will take the car seat out the vehicle and let their babies sleep in them. Researchers are now telling parents to only use car beds and car seats for travel and definitely not as a replacement for a child’s bed.

While some physicians have said that the side effects are relatively mild and long-term consequences are unlikely, Kinane is recommending that child safety seat makers redesign infant car seats so that chest compression doesn’t happen. He says that one way to do this is to install a new seat back and new buckles so that the baby’s head can fall back.

Selena Silva, of the Child Passenger Safety Program at Children’s Hospital, says that an infant car seat’s reclining angle should be at around 45 degrees to keep the baby’s airway open and prevent slumping. This angle has been crash-tested.

Child Safety Seats
The makers of child safety seats must make sure that their products are safe for use. This means that the seats will ensure the greatest amount of protection for babies and other young children during a car crash. A child car safety seat should also not be designed in a way that could cause a baby's health to suffer. Manufacturers also need to warn of any possible injuries or health issues that may result from use.

If you think your child was injured or became sick because of the way a child car safety seat was designed, a car seat defect, or because the child car safety seat malfunctioned, you may have grounds for filing a products liability lawsuit.

Infant car seats can trim babies' oxygen levels, CNN, August 24, 2009

nfant car seat no substitute for crib: study, CBC, August 24, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Pediatrics

Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2009, American Academy of Pediatrics

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Posted In: Infant Products , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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The US Department of Transportation says that it is designing a consumer program to help parents and others select the child car seats that are the best fit for their motor vehicles. The new program will involve auto manufacturers recommending which child car safety seats should go with each vehicle. This initiative will go into effect at the start of the 2011 model year.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has also mandated that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration put together a new side impact safety standard for child safety seats. While the current standard mandating that a child car seat be able to withstand forces more severe than 99.5% of real-time crashes is effective, LaHood wants the NHTSA to improve the standards even more.

Car safety seat and child traffic accident facts:
• 1/3rd of all highway fatalities involving kids younger than 13 occur during side impact crashes.
• 50% of kids under age 8 killed in auto accidents were not using child safety seats.

The NHTSA task force charged with assessing current child safety regulations is recommending that research be conducted on ways to improve the current child safety seat standard for frontal impact crashes.

Some steps that you can take to make sure you are buying a good car seat:
• Check to make sure that the seat is compatible with the LATCH system, which allows you to securely and easily fasten your seat to many cars and trucks.

• Make sure the seat comes with side impact protection.

• Buy a car seat with a 5-point safety harness.

However, just because one child safety seat performs well in one car doesn’t mean it will fit properly in another vehicle—even if the seat is considered one of the “best” and “safest” in the marketplace. The DOT's new consumer program will help clear up a lot of confusion for parents who may not know whether a child seat is the right fit for their specific vehicles.

Child Safety and Auto Safety
Car makers and the manufacturers of child car seats are obligated to make sure that they manufacture products that are free from defects that could lead to personal injury or wrongful death. Product defects resulting in serious injury accidents can be grounds for a products liability lawsuit.

Child safety seats: Transportation chief pushes reform measures for vehicle manufacturers, Chicago Tribune, April 25, 2009

U.S. DOT Announces New Consumer Program for Child Safety Seats, NHTSA, April 24, 2009

Related Web Resources:
How to Choose the Best Child Safety Car Seat, InfoBarrel.com

Top 10 Cars for Kids in Car Seats, Edmunds.com

Continue reading "New US Department of Transportation Consumer Program for Child Safety Seats Will Help Parents Choose the Products that Best Fits Their Cars" »

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Posted In: Infant Products , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is planning a complete review of existing child safety restraint standards. The announcement, reports the Chicago Tribune, comes in the wake of the newspaper’s findings that existing safety standards may be flawed.

The Tribune says that it found, buried in thousands of NHTSA reports, results from tests used to rate the car safety of 2008 model vehicles. What was disturbing, the newspaper reported, is that out of 66 infant seats used in these frontal collision tests, nearly 50% of the safety restraints either separated from the vehicle or exceeded injury limits.

These findings were never issued to the public. Joan Claybrook, the president emeritus of Public Citizen and a former NHTSA administrator, says the NHTSA behaved negligently when it failed to notify consumers about these results.

Usually the strength and safety of child safety restraints are evaluated with tests using sled benches traveling at about 30 mph. However, simulated tests involving real motor vehicles driving into walls at about 35mph may be more in line with what actually could happen on the road, reports the Tribune.

Some of the test findings were disturbing enough that they spurred child safety seat makers into action. For instance, when used in tests involving 3,015 pound barriers being crashed into the sides of real cars, the Evenflo Discovery seats kept falling off their bases. The company eventually recalled 1,000,000 child safety seats following these poor test findings. One safety seat, the Combi Centre infant seat, kept falling off its base in frontal crash tests. Last year, Combi recalled these seats.

These findings raise the question of how accurate current testing standards are for child safety seats and if they aren’t accurate, then how much information do parents really have when trying to determine which seat works best in what car.

Meantime, federal regulators are trying to figure out how to improve their sled bench tests for child safety seats. US Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood says that the government will work harder to make crash-test results more accessible to the public. Some child car safety seat makers, however, are questioning the accuracy of the tests and their findings.

Child Car Safety Seat Recalls
In 2007, 7,000 babies were injured in motor vehicle crashes, while 63 others were killed. All of the accident victims were using child safety restraints at the time of the deadly motor vehicle accidents. Recent child safety seats that have been recalled include 5,500 Recaro Signo car seats, approximately 32,000 Peg Perego Primo Viaggio infant car restraints, and over 30,000 Britax Frontier combination car seats.

There are instances when the life of an infant or a young child might have been saved if he or she had been seated in a child safety restraint that wasn't defectively designed or did not malfunction. A defective child safety seat can be the cause of catastrophic injuries to a child's brain, head, or spine.

NHTSA Statement on Review of Federal Standards for Child Safety Seats,NHTSA, March 2, 2009

Car seat tests reveal 'flaws', Chicago Tribune, March 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Child Passenger Safety, NHTSA

Recalls, CPSC.gov

Continue reading "NHTSA Announces Top to Bottom Review of Current Child Safety Seat Standards" »

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Posted In: Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading causes of accidental child injuries and deaths are motor vehicle collisions and fall accidents. From 2001 to 2006, about 8 million child deaths occurred each year due to motor vehicle crashes, bicycle collisions, or pedestrian accidents, while some 2.8 million nonfatal injuries happened as a result of fall accidents. Overall, approximately 55 million teenagers and young children were treated for accidental injuries in US emergency rooms between 2001 and 2006—that's about 9.2 million kids a year.

More CDC findings:
• About 12,175 young people (under age 20) were killed each year in the US because they sustained accidental injuries.
• Motor vehicle crashes continued to be the leading cause of fatalities for kids, ages 5 to 19.
• For young children ages 1 to 4, drowning was a leading cause of death.
• For infants, the leading cause of death was suffocation.
• The leading causes of nonfatal injuries for kids ages 1 to 4 were fall accidents and accidental poisoning.
• About 20 kids are killed every day because of accidental injuries.
• Burn injuries were also a common cause of child injuries.

While there are steps that parents can take to prevent such injuries from happening, it is also important that product manufacturers make goods that are free from defects and are safe for use.

In recent years, there have been too many recalls of too many products because of the potential injuries they could cause to young children. Toys with excessive levels of lead paint, poorly constructed cribs and bassinets that pose a fall hazard or are a suffocation threat, household products that are fire hazards, defectively designed clothing that are a strangulation danger, poorly constructed child safety seats, and dangerous nursery furniture and playground rides, are just some of the millions of toys that the Consumer Product Safety Commission and manufacturers have recalled because a child was (or could get) injured or died.

Product manufacturers must be held liable when their negligence and carelessness leads to serious products liability-related injuries and deaths.

Childhood Injury Report, CDC

Recalls, US Consumer Product Safety Commission

Related Web Resources:
World report on child injury prevention, World Health Organization

Keeping Children Safe from Dangerous Products (PDF)

Continue reading "Motor Vehicle Accidents, Suffocation Injuries, and Fall Accidents Among Leading Causes of Injuries to Children, Says CDC" »

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Posted In: Clothing , Infant Products , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars , Nursery Products , Playground Products , Swimming Pools , Toys

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A new study appearing in the February 2009 issue of the American Journal of Public Health reports that securing small children and infants in the proper child car safety seats could save their lives. According to the study’s authors, use of child safety restraints dramatically lowers the chances that a child, three years of age or younger, will die in a serious traffic accident.

The study found that the odds of a baby dying in an auto crash dropped by 75% with use of a child safety seat, while the mortality rate for older children dropped by 60%. These findings are important considering that motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of accidental deaths among kids older than 1.

The new study also reported that child safety seats helped prevent deaths in rollover accidents, as well as in collisions involving light trucks. The report, however, was quick to emphasize that while securing 2- and 3-year-olds in seat belts proved just as effective at preventing deaths as placing these young children in child car safety seats, the latter is still better at protecting small children from serious injuries.

Choosing the Right Child Car Seat
While it is important to use an age appropriate child car safety seat for your son or daughter, not all child safety seats are the made same in terms of quality and the kinds of safety features that they offer. The American Academy of Pediatrics Web site offers a number of suggestions for helping you ensure that you are picking the best product for your child, including:

• The best seat for your son or daughter is the one that is age and size appropriate, properly installed, and used correctly.
• Make sure that your child does not use the seat beyond the manufacturer’s recommended date for length of use.
• Make sure there are no visible flaws on the child safety seat and that none of its parts are missing.
• Check the car safety seat’s model number and manufacture date to make sure the product hasn’t been recalled.
• If the car safety seat is one that has been used in the past, make sure it was never involved in a moderate or serious auto accident.

It is also important to pay attention to product recalls that can occur in the event that the particular child car safety seat you have chosen proves defective and the flaw needs to be fixed or the seat replaced. If your son or daughter sustained an injury in a car accident because of a defective child car seat, you may have grounds for filing a products liability lawsuit to sue for damages.

Car Seats Save Young Lives, Washington Post, January 21, 2009

Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2009, AAP.org

Related Web Resources:
American Journal of Public Health

Car Seats, ConsumerReports.org

Continue reading "Child Car Seats Save Lives of Babies and Young Children, Confirms New Study" »

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Posted In: Infant Products , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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Gilbert, Ollanik & Komyatte attorneys’ Stuart Ollanik and Paul Komyatte recently published an article in TRIAL magazine titled “Making Cars Safe for Kids”. The following is a brief excerpt of their article:

Our society claims to value its children above all else, but fails to protect the, from an epidemic of automobile related deaths and injuries. Auto makers claim that they do the same. But the record – uncovered in lawsuits brought by lawyers for injured consumer across the country – tells another story. Children have not come first, or even second or third. When it comes to auto safety, our children have been an afterthought.

Some may say such an initiative is underway, and indeed it is for one side of the child safety coin: consumer behavior. Seatbelt use rates have multiplied in the past two decades. Laws requiring belt use have been effective, as have laws requiring child seats and, more recently, booster seats for children who have outgrown their child seats. Older children are wearing seatbelts more often. Graduated driver’s license requirements – that impose restrictions on young new drivers driving at night with other young people – have been reversing the prior trend of ever-increasing teen driver caused deaths and injuries

But people can only do so much. To protect against collision injuries, we need state laws requiring booster seats for children up to 80 pounds. We need enforcement of laws on restraining children in cars, and we need those laws to permit primary enforcement – that is, to allow driver’s to be stopped and ticketed solely for failure to have their children in proper restraints. We need uniform, simplified educational materials to provide to public health departments and private healthcare providers for distribution. These materials should address selection of child safety seats appropriate to the child’s size, proper use of seat belts, the dangers of lap-only belts, proper posture for children in seatbelts, the need for top tethers for child seats, and proper installation instructions.

Auto makers have responsibility in this area, too. Safety window switches, trunk releases, brake shift interlocks, and backup sensors and cameras are common sense devices that can prevent tragedy every day of the year. We need research on injury values for child dummies, and crash test requirements for the full range of dummies. We need fit and performance standards for seat belts for children, including testing and injury criteria for four to eight year olds that must be achieved with and without booster seats. We need stringent restraint requirements that will result in safer designs eliminating delayed restraint and incorporating pretensioners and web clamps. We need to either require or provide incentives for inclusion of the safest form of child restraints, integrated child seats.

In a nutshell, what is needed is a conscious choice to put children first, as we as a society claim to do. We need statutes and regulations mandating such choices by vehicle operators and manufacturers. And we need a different design ethic. Documents uncovered in litigation show that engineers have recognized and urged use of all the solutions recommended here for many years – even decades. We need management at the leading auto manufacturers to step up to the plate and see that their engineers’ efforts to protect children are implemented, and to see that our vehicles provide the safety our children deserve.

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Posted In: Kids in Cars

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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute recently conducted an evaluation of car booster safety seats. Out of the 41 boosters studied, 13 of them did such a bad job of improving the way shoulder and lap safety belts fit on children that the IIHS is refusing to recommend these products at all. While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration currently provides information on how easy (or not) a booster seat is to use, the NHTSA does not have any data informing parents on how well a booster seat will fit or properly secure their child.

Booster Seats the IIHS is NOT Recommending Include:

• Cosco/Dorel (Eddie Bauer) Summit
• Cosco Highback Booster
• Cosco/Dorel Alpha Omega
• Cosco/Dorel Traveler
• Dorel/Safety 1st (Eddie Bauer) Prospect
• Safety First/Dorel Intera
• Safety Angel Ride Ryte backless
• Graco CarGo Zephyr
• Compass B510 and B505
• Evenflo Big Kid Confidence
• Evenflo Chase Comfort Touch
• Evenflo Generations

The IIHS says that while these booster seats might increase restraint and comfort level for children, they do not necessarily provide optimal protection when used with safety belts. A major problem cited is that use of these boosters often result in the lap belt resting at least partially on the child’s abdomen rather than on bonier areas of the body.

The IIHS says that good boosters should allow lap belts to wrap across a child’s pelvic area, while shoulder belts should be positioned at mid-shoulder and away from the neck. According to University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute Associate Professor Matt Read, any booster that does not allow good shoulder and lap belt fit should be redesigned.

Booster Seats Rated by the IIHS as "Best Bets" Include:

• Britax Monarch
• Britax Parkway
• Graco Turbobooster backless with clip
• Recargo Young Style
• Fisher-Price Safe Voyage backless with clip
• Fisher-Price Safe Voyage
• Volvo booster cushion
• Combi Kobuk backless with clip
• Safeguard Go backless with clip
• LaRoche Bros. Teddy Bear

IIHS "Good Bets" Include:

• Graco TurboBooster
• Combi Kobuk
• Safety Angel Ride Ryte
• Safety 1st/Dorel Apex 65
• Recaro Young Sport

If your son or daughter was injured because of a defective child auto safety seat, you and your family may be entitled to products liability compensation.

Many booster seats aren't up to the job of improving safety belt fit for children, IIHS.org

Booster Seat Evaluations, IIHS

Related Web Resources
Booster Seats, Keeping Children Safe in Crashes, IIHS

University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute

Child Passenger Safety: Ease of Use Ratings, NHTSA

Continue reading "IIHS Names 13 Booster Seats that Do Not Improve Safety Belt Fit for Kids" »

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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Each year, hundreds of young children are injured in motor vehicle crashes. Many of these injuries could have been avoided if the child had been restrained in a well-designed and properly functioning child safety seat or booster chair.

With all of the child safety seats currently available in the marketplace, it can be difficult to determine which seat to purchase for your son, daughter, or grandchild. The recent recalls involving defective child safety seats have not helped boost consumer confidence.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

• Infants younger than age 1 and weighing under 20 lbs should be secured in infant-only child safety seats, and the seat should face the rear of the motor vehicle.

• While toddlers and preschoolers weighing 20 pounds can ride with their car seats facing the front of the car, it is still recommended that their child safety seats face the back of the vehicle.

Types of forward-facing seats:

Convertible seats - They can convert between forward-facing and rear facing
Forward-facing seats
Forward-facing/Booster seat combinations
Built-in seats – They are pre-installed in certain motor vehicles
Travel vests – For children weighing 20 to 168 pounds. They can be used with a lap seat belt.

• Children 8 – 12 years of age that are 4’9” in height or greater and can no longer use a forward-facing seat should use a booster seat, which raises the child’s body so that he or she can properly use a shoulder and lap seat belt.
• Children that can no longer fit in a booster seat should use a shoulder and lap seat belt and sit in the back until they turn age 13.

Suggestions for making sure a child safety seat is safe:

• Use a safety seat that is preferably under five years old.
• Make sure the car seat has never been involved in an auto crash.
• Ensure that the seat has all its required parts.
• Check for possible defects, such as cracks in the plastic, damaged straps, and stiff buckles.
• Read about the seat brand and model and check for a history of past defects and recalls.

Our auto products safety law firm is experienced in dealing with injury cases involving defective car seats.

Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2008, American Academy of Pediatrics

Safe Ride Helpline for Child Passenger Safety, Carseat.org

Related Web Resources:

Child Passenger Safety: Ease of Use Ratings, NHTSA

Recalls

Continue reading "Choosing Your Child’s Car Safety Seat" »

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Posted In: Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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Toyota is recalling over 90,000 2008 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid SUVS because the seat belts in the third row may not secure a child restraint system properly.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that the seat belt webbing is not being properly secured by the automatic locking retractor. This is causing the webbing to “spool out during normal driving.” This failure could affect the ability of a child restraint system to function properly and cause serious injury to a child during a motor vehicle accident.
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Child Restraint Systems
Child restraint systems are used to secure infants and kids safely in cars so that their injuries are minimized in the event of a motor vehicle crash. There are child restraint laws in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia that requires that children in motor vehicles be secured by some type of restraint system.

It is important that the child restraint system you use for your child is functioning properly, free from manufacturing defects, and is secured properly. It is also important that the seat belt that you use to secure the child restraint system is working properly so that the system can work correctly.

Defective Seat belts and child restraint systems can lead to many kinds of serious injuries when there is a serious auto accident, including:

• Roof crush injuries during a rollover crash
• Broken bones
• Spinal cord injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Internal organ damage
• Blunt force injuries
• Cuts and bruises from being thrown into doors or through glass windows
• Death

Our automotive products liability law firm is known for helping victims of auto accidents recover personal injury compensation for their injuries, pain, and suffering. We have recovered over $150 million in settlements and verdicts for our injured clients.

Child safety seat belt problems force Toyota to recall 90,000 Highlanders, Automotive Business Review
Toyota Recalls Highlander, Highlander Hybrids for Seat Belt Problem, ConsumerAffairs.com, May 3, 2008

Related Web Resources:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Toyota

Continue reading "Toyota Recalls 90,000 2008 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid SUVs Because of Child Safety Seat Belt Problems" »

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Defective Seatbelt and Restraint System Cases , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars , Toyota Safety Issues

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Baby product manufacturer Evenflo Company Inc. is voluntarily recalling 1 million Discovery Infant Car seats. The recall comes after Evenflo and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) tested the child safety seats. They discovered that during high impact side collisions, the car seat can come off or break apart,which could cause serious injuries or death if either were to occur in real life.

So far, there are no reported injuries related to this recall. Evenflo says it will provide a dual-hook fastener to registered owners so the child car seat will stay intact in the event of a similar collision. The Discovery Infant Car seats that are part of the recall were manufactured between April 2005 and January 2008. They include models 552, 534, 391, and 390.

Evenflo has voluntarily recalled other infant car seats before. Last year, the baby product manufacturer recalled over 450,000 Embrace Infant car seats following 679 reported incidents that involved seat handles on car seats releasing suddenly without warning. 160 injuries were reported, including two concussions and a skull fracture.

Last week, the NHTSA announced it will set up a new child seat rating system for parents shopping for child car seats. The new system will include an assessment for “ease of use,” in terms of how easy the seat is to install and use, the clarity of instruction manuals, and product labeling.

When used properly, the NHTSA says that child car safety seat systems reduce fatal injuries for toddlers and infants by more than 50% in cars and by nearly 60% in SUVs.

When child car safety seats are defective, however, those safety numbers can go down. In the last 7 years, millions of child car seats have been recalled because of defects, including:

• Defective seat handles
• Defective shoulder straps
• Weakly constructed car seats
• Flammable product pieces
• Defective harnesses
• Defective seatbelt slots

Our products liability law firm represents the families of children who have been injured or killed while using a defective product. Our product safety lawyers have successfully handled many injury cases involving auto accidents, defective motor vehicle-related products, and injuries to minors.

One million Evenflo car seats recalled, CNN.com, February 1, 2008

Read the NHTSA Recall, Office of Defects Investigation, January 31, 2008

New child seat ratings system announced, Sun-Sentinel.com, January 30, 2008

Fall Hazard Prompts NHTSA, CPSC and Evenflo to Announce Recall of Embrace™ Infant Car Seat/Carriers, CPSC.gov, May 10, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Evenflo

List of Recalls and Replacement Parts for Child Restraints, Carseats.org, February 1, 2008 (PDF)

Continue reading "Evenflo Recalls 1 Million Discovery Infant Car Seats" »

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Infant Products , Injuries to Children & Minors , Kids in Cars

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As parents ourselves, we have focused a lot of our energies on child safety. Nothing breaks our hearts more than learning of a serious injury or death to a child that could and should have been avoided. So it warms our heart to see progress made by other organizations working hard to prevent avoidable child injuries. One of these is “Kids and Cars.” Check out their website, www.kidsandcars.org. They are bringing public attention to issues that have long endangered children such as:

• Child Back Over Deaths. Many SUVs and Vans have horrendous visibility limitations that prevent drivers from seeing children behind them. This problem can be solved with a combination of diligence on the part of drivers and better designs that minimize blind areas.

• Trunk Locks. Recent model vehicles are designed with inside trunk releases to prevent kids from staying trapped in a closed trunk, similar to how children used to become trapped in abandoned refrigerators. Many older model vehicles do not have this safety feature.

• Brake shift interlock. It is very common for a small child to try to copy mom and dad and get in the seat of the car and drive. A well-designed vehicle will prevent placing the car in gear unless the operator’s foot is on the brake, effectively “childproofing” the car just as we childproof pill bottles. Amazingly and unnecessarily, many cars on the road lack this simple, common-sense safety design.

• Child strangulation in power windows. The fixes are simple and cheap—including use of a window button that needs to be pulled up to move the window up, keeping children from accidentally injuring themselves by standing on the window button and looking out the window, or use of an “auto-reverse” feature like those on electric garage doors.

Since child safety knows no political boundaries, Kids and Cars has powerful bipartisan support in its child protection efforts. Let’s hope that this coming year brings passage of the “Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act,” co-sponsored by Republican Senator John Sununu and Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton. Protecting our children is an issue upon which folks of different political stripes can certainly agree!

- Stuart Ollanik

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Kids in Cars

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