When it comes to car seats for infants and other small children, there are serious rules made as far as what can be put in the car. Responsible parents have to keep watch to make certain that their seats are up to code, and car seat maker Britax has recently been found to have certain seats that have an unfortunate defect. If you are the owners of one of these car seats listed below, here is how to make certain that you can receive a remedy kit.
According to NBC News, Britax is recalling 37 models of its car seats due to a potential safety defect that prevents the harnesses from locking. The issue is with seat models manufactured between August 1, 2014 and July 29, 2015 like the Advocate ClickTight, Boulevard ClickTight, and Marathon ClickTight. These models have a defective harness adjuster button that stays in the "release" position when the harness is tightened, which is not at all safe for the passenger. At least no one has reported any injury from the defect as yet.
The problem was first noticed by a Consumer Reports safety notice back in March. Apparently, Britax said it had "confirmed the performance" of ClickTight seats with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and even emailed all of the registered seat owners warning of the potential danger.
According to Bulletin Leader, these are the make and model numbers of the Britax seats that have this issue including E9LT95Q, E9LT95Z, E9LT95N, and E1A025Q, Boulevard ClickTight child seats, model numbers E9LT86F, E1A135Q, E9LT86G, E9LT85Q, E9LT86A, E9LT86H, E9LT85S, E1A015Q, E1A016A, and E1A016H, Marathon ClickTight child seats, model numbers E1A116L, E9LT76P, E9LT71Q, E9LT76N, E9LT76B, E9LT75R, E9LT76L, E1A006B, E1A005R and EXA116L.
If you believe that you have a Britax seat that could have this defect, then you should check your auto seat's number on a sticker under the vehicle seat cover to the right of the ClickTight dial. Britax is prepared to provide a free remedy kit available for all registered owners of the recalled seats. You might need to register your seat to receive one of these kits that includes a non-toxic food-grade lubricant, an instruction sheet for applying the lubricant to the harness adjuster button, as well as a label indicating that the remedy has been completed.
According to Time, Britax has recalled over 200,000 seats. If you have any doubt that your Britax car seat is one of these possible ones that needs to be recalled, you can check the Britax service and support recall site to see if any action on your part is required.
The Britax website states that they believe that family life "should be lived without limit". They also state that they have led the way in child safety technology for over 70 years, always innovating and always going beyond "good enough". They are Europe's best-selling car seat brand, and one trusted by American families since they launched in the United States in 1996. Hopefully, something like this will not be a black mark on their otherwise good record.
