According to a new report, Evenflo, one of the largest sellers of booster seats, ignored safety recommendations that it stop marketing seats for children under 40 pounds
Photo: ProPublica An alarming new ProPublica report finds that Evenflo, one of the largest sellers of booster seats, ignored safety recommendations that it stop marketing seats for children under 40 pounds. In side-impact safety tests, child-size crash dummies’ bodies were thrown in ways that, the company’s top booster-seat engineer later admitted, could cause catastrophic head, neck, and spinal injuries, or even death, in real child passengers.
Though child-safety testing laws were enacted by Congress nearly 20 years ago, those requirements ask only that products pass head-on-collision tests — not side-impact crashes. As such, booster-seat-makers are enabled to create their own safety tests, the standards for which may be shockingly subpar. In Evenflo’s case, reports ProPublica, tests were only considered “failed” if the child crash dummies ended up on the floor, or the seat broke into pieces.
In response to the ProPublica story, Evenflo general counsel Amy Blankenship stated that the company “has records of hundreds of accidents in which children seated in Big Kid boosters were unscathed or received only minor injuries ‘unrelated to the car seat,’” and that even in severe accidents, “the injuries of a child weighing less than 40 pounds would be no different from a child who weighs more” as long as the child was properly positioned in the booster seat.
Devastating consumer experiences challenge that argument. Jillian Brown, a then-5-year-old, almost 37-pound girl, was in the back seat in an Evenflo Big Kid booster seat when the car’s driver, her mother, was T-boned by another car. Jillian suffered what medical experts call an “internal decapitation,” leaving her paralyzed from the neck down, needing 24-hour care. The Browns are now suing Evenflo.
Years earlier, two families sued Evenflo when their own children suffered a similarly severe injury in side-impact crashes involving Big Kid booster seats. The company continued to sell boosters for small children, and Blankenship told ProPublica that “bad driving” is the cause of the outcomes in the lawsuits mentioned.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
UK seeks big tariff reductions in U.S. trade dealBritain is seeking far-reaching reductions in tariffs from a trade deal with the...
Leer más »
What Microsoft's big reorg means for the future of Windows - Business InsiderMicrosoft's big reorg means it's 'going all-in on Windows,' streamlining its hardware business and kicking its Teams chat app into high gear, experts say
Leer más »
Gemma Collins stormed off The Big Narstie show because studio 'stunk of weed'Another source has spoken out after it was previously claimed renowned diva Gemma Collins fled the Channel 4 studio after being insulted by Vinnie Jones
Leer más »
Why the Los Angeles Dodgers are the big winners of the Mookie Betts tradeThe Dodgers have added one of the best players in the majors to an already star-studded roster, while financial flexibility comes at a price for Boston.
Leer más »
Watch Big Thief Perform 'Shoulders' on 'Kimmel'The song comes off their most recent album Two Hands
Leer más »