Britax sent defective fix to customers in deal to avoid safety recall of its BOB strollers
Source: Washington Post
Britax sent defective fix to customers in deal to avoid safety recall of its BOB strollers
By Todd C. Frankel May 3 at 2:27 PM
Britax Child Safety sent defective replacement parts for its BOB jogging stroller to nearly 200 customers in recent weeks, according to the company, raising new questions about a settlement with U.S. regulators that allowed the company to avoid a safety recall.
The fix — a new metal bolt for securing the BOB stroller’s front wheel — was being offered by Britax as part of an agreement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission that was reached late last year and that ended the agency’s pursuit of a mandatory recall. The agency claimed hundreds of BOB stroller crashes and nearly 100 injuries were caused by the spontaneous failure of the BOB’s front wheel. Britax said the wheel was safe, however, and that consumers were to blame for the crashes. But as part of its settlement, the company agreed to launch an online safety campaign in January and to offer some consumers two new ways of securing the front wheel on the three-wheeled stroller.
Britax said so far it has received four reports of “breakage on thru-bolt axles,” according to a statement released Thursday, shortly after an inquiry from The Washington Post. The company said 197 customers received the potentially defective bolts but that it had no reports of injuries. Britax said it was working to develop a new bolt. It also said it was not aware of problems with the other replacement part, a modified quick-release axle.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said it was aware of the issue, but agency spokesman Joe Martyak declined to comment further on “compliance deliberations.”
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/britax-sent-defective-fix-to-customers-in-deal-to-avoid-safety-recall-of-its-bob-strollers/2019/05/03/f6db7c7c-6da9-11e9-be3a-33217240a539_story.html