Recall Imposed On Maker Of Infant Carrier-Car Seat When Lock On Carrier Fails, Child Dumped; Free Repair Kit Will Be Sent To Owners

Evenflo Co. was forced Thursday to recall 800,000 of its popular combination infant carrier-car seats after the federal government received reports of children being tossed to the ground.

The recall is one of the largest for child safety seats in the United States. It’s also the fourth major recall of child seats made by Vandalia, Ohio-based Evenflo since 1985.

Federal safety officials blasted Evenflo Thursday for resisting the voluntary recall and blaming the child seat mishaps on their customers.

“Working with Evenflo on this recall has been extremely difficult. We have had to drag them along every step of the way,” said Ann Brown, chairwoman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. “This is a serious problem that puts infants at risk and this was not the customers’ fault.”

The recall involves Evenflo’s “On My Way” seat, which doubles as an infant carrier outside the car. When the seat is used as a carrier outside of a car, the locking mechanism on the handle can slip. That can flip the seat forward and cause the child to fall to the ground.

The recall is for model number 207, a car seat and carrier, and model number 492, which also includes a stroller, made from Dec. 15, 1995, to July 27, 1997.

Evenflo, the world’s largest maker of child seats, said it would provide customers with a free repair kit containing a stronger plastic locking mechanism that can be easily installed by owners.

“Every injury that is reported we take very seriously and we want to correct the problem immediately,” said Rick Schaub, Evenflo’s senior vice president of marketing.

There have been 176 reports the carrying handle latch unexpectedly released, resulting in 89 injuries to children from skull fractures and concussions to bruises.

Parents have complained their infants tumbled from the seats onto marble floors or concrete walkways, some face down, according to government records.

Dr. Ricardo Martinez, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said parents should continue using the rear-facing infant seats in the car, “but should not use the carrying handle until new parts are installed to fix the problem.” The car seat has a detachable base that remains belted in a vehicle as the rest of the seat becomes a portable carrying basket.

Recalls have plagued Evenflo for the past 13 years. The largest car seat recall - 3 million in 1990 - was of various Evenflo models for infants and children that could unlatch and eject a child in a crash. The NHTSA also recalled 35,000 of Evenflo’s Sidekick auto booster seats last October and 10,000 Trooper child safety seats in May 1996.

Initial steps for the latest recall started last fall when the company met with safety officials. Federal officials contend Evenflo offered to fix only about 150,000 seats from a four-month production period.

In documents filed with the government, the company claimed that consumers were applying more than 50 pounds of stress on the handle and “utilizing the product in an abnormal manner.” But the infants thrown out of the seats all weighed less than 20 pounds.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: For information The Evenflo number, open 24 hours a day, is 1-800-203-2138.