The Legal Examiner Affiliate Network The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner search instagram avvo phone envelope checkmark mail-reply spinner error close The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner
Skip to main content

Following the massive Maclaren recall of every umbrella stroller the company sold over the last decade because of the risk of finger amputation, ABC News has reported that other manufactures and stroller companies may be next.

The million-stroller recall by British manufacturer Maclaren following reports of finger amputation has prompted the Consumer Product Safety Commission to take another look at all "umbrella" strollers that use similar hinges.

Maclaren’s recall, announced Monday, includes every umbrella stroller the company has sold over the past decade.

***

Maclaren invented the umbrella stroller 40 years ago and other stroller makers use similar hinge mechanisms.

Maclaren said the safety of umbrella stroller hinges is an issue common to all folding strollers. And the Consumer Product Safety Commission acknowledged that there have been incident reports about other stroller brands, but with lesser injuries involved. The CPSC will look into whether further standards or recalls are needed for stroller hinges.

Meanwhile, the Maclaren stroller recall has thousands of parents angry and in disbelief. The New York Times documented the backlash at Maclaren from angry parents:

In announcing a recall of about 1 million strollers yesterday, the Maclaren stroller company has illustrated yet again that it’s not nice to mishandle parents online.

***

As reporter Sean Gregory wrote last evening on time.com: “The recall is a nightmare for Maclaren. Prior to Monday, its strollers had a reputation for dependability. Now they’re the ones that could cut kids’ fingers off.”

***

The search terms “Maclaren fingertip amputation” pulled up more than 5,000 results on Google. The parent blogs are buzzing. One, Daddy Types, has dubbed the affair Macopalypse 2009. Another, called Mother Load, wrote the post “MacLaren recall: is there nothing safe?” The author wrote, “Fingertip amputation? And they had to get to TWELVE cases before they issued a recall?”

It is remarkable that it took this company more than a decade to fix this dangerous defect and only after too many young children were injured and maimed. This recall is a reminder to parents to always be on guard and to take all recall notices seriously.

You can learn more about how to protect yourself from dangerous products at our safety blog or by visiting our web site.

Learn more and become a fan of Langdon & Emison on Facebook.

Comments for this article are closed.