Buggy manufacturer Maclaren has announced the “voluntary recall” of a million folding pushchairs in the United States after reports that a dozen children had lost fingertips after getting their hands caught in the hinges.
All Maclaren single and double umbrella pushchairs, including the popular Volo, Techno, Quest and Triumph models which are in wide use in the UK, were subject to the action by the firm in the US.
But although US authorities said that customers should stop using the pushchairs immediately, the company - founded in Britain but now US-owned - insisted that its products were safe so long as they were used correctly. It said that there were no plans to follow suit in the UK or Europe.
The company was backed today by British trading standards officials, who said that since there had only been one recorded accident in the UK involving a Maclaren buggy, the product was considered to conform to safety standards.
“We wish to reassure our customers that they should continue to use their existing Maclaren buggies since they are safe when opened and closed correctly,” Maclaren Europe said in a statement.
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“As further reassurance we have updated our operating instructions and placed a warning label on the buggy to ensure that customers take care and keep children away from the buggy when it is being folded or unfolded.
“Our advice is that consumers should take the same level of caution and care as when opening or closing a car door or any other moving part that can be found in many other baby and toddler products.”
The company added: “We would like to make clear this is not a European-wide product recall. In the US the term product recall has an entirely different meaning. It means corrective action or the modification of products which can be carried out in the home.
“In response to accidents which occurred when buggies where not operated in line with instructions and safety guidelines our US company decided to voluntarily supply kits to cover the elbow joint as a safety measure. There are a lower number of similar reported incidents amongst the considerably higher number of Maclaren buggies sold in Europe. If a buggy is folded or unfolded in line with our operating instructions the risk of injury is non-existent.”
The recalled models include the Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, Techno XLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller.
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The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said that customers should stop using the pushchairs immediately. In a joint statement with Maclaren USA, the CPSC said: “The stroller’s hinge mechanism poses a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is unfolding/opening the stroller.”
It said the firm had received 15 reports of children placing their finger in the pushchair’s hinge mechanism, “resulting in 12 reports of fingertip amputations in the United States”.
Maclaren USA offered users a free “repair kit” - a set of hinge covers to remedy the problem.
The firm’s website said it produces “the world’s most safe, durable, innovative and stylish baby buggies and strollers”.
A Maclaren USA spokesman added: “Consistent with our unwavering commitment to child safety we are providing US consumers notice of a voluntary recall of all Maclaren umbrella strollers sold in the US.
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“In co-operation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, we are providing free of charge to all affected consumers and retailers a kit to cover the stroller’s hinge mechanism, which poses a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is unfolding/opening the stroller.
“The voluntary recall is to alert the operator when opening or closing the stroller of the possible risk of injury. Safety is our first priority and through this voluntary effort we urge consumers to contact us immediately to obtain the kit which consists of hinge covers designed specifically to fit all Maclaren strollers.”
Maclaren was founded in 1965 when Owen Maclaren, a British aeronautical engineer and former test pilot, patented the first collapsible “Baby Buggy”. Mr Maclaren began production near his home in the Northamptonshire village of Long Buckby.
The company went into receivership in 2000, after which it was taken over by an American investor, who moved production to China and expanded international sales.
David Hedger, the acting head of trading standards at Northamptonshire County Council, said that Maclaren had approached his office for advice in September.
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“Because the pushchairs conform to EU regulations and there has only been one reported injury involving a Maclaren pushchair in the UK, we advised them that a recall in this country or EU was not a legal requirement,” he said.
“Any decision to voluntarily take action in relation to such products would have to be made by Maclaren as we have no power to recall a product that conforms to safety standards.”
He added: “This issue acts as a timely reminder to parents to take extra care when putting up any children’s equipment that has a folding mechanism.”