The Kiddu Lane 123 child car seat has been withdrawn from sale following an incident in which a child was thrown out of the seat when the buckle apparently failed.
Good Egg Safety says it has been contacted by four separate families warning about the “potentially dangerous” seat.
The first incident, which was reported to Good Egg Safety last weekend, occurred last month where a 22-month old-boy was thrown out of his seat when his aunt, who was driving, had to make an emergency stop. The child, Coby Tennant, sustained bruising to his forehead.
Since the incident was publicised by his family on social media, a further three families have reported similar incidents to Good Egg Safety, in which two more children have also sustained injuries.
Stacey Tennant, Coby’s mum, said: “When we alerted parents about our concerns, I felt sick to hear that other similar incidents had occurred and been swept under the carpet.
“If my son had been seriously injured or killed and the manufacturer and retailer concerned knew beforehand that there was a problem and could have prevented it, I would have held them directly responsible.
“Now my hope is that no other parent has to find out the hard way and we are grateful to Good Egg for bringing this to their attention. My Facebook video has had over a million views so far which is really encouraging.”
In a statement on its website, Kiddu says: “Product safety is our top priority and we are taking this matter very seriously. We have already conducted our own tests on our car seat buckles, which have indicated no fault to date.
“However, we have also requested that independent tests are carried out by the premier UK test authority as a matter of urgency. In the meantime, we have made the decision to temporarily withdraw the Kiddu Lane car seat from sale until the tests are complete.
“We would like to reassure families with a Kiddu Lane car seat that the seat has been subjected to rigorous testing and has been approved to the current European Child Safety Standard ECE R 44/04 and by the Vehicle Certification Authority (VCA) in the UK.
“However, should anyone feel concerned they can call our dedicated helpline on 0161 702 5061.”
Jan James, Good Egg Safety chief executive, said: “We are deeply concerned about this and contacted the distributer concerned and also all the retailers who were selling this product. We requested an immediate halt to sales until the issue is further investigated.
“It should not require the death of an infant for this to be taken seriously and financial considerations should be superseded by the health and safety of child passengers who may currently be at risk.
“We have since been advised by Kiddu that they have taken the decision to temporarily withdraw the Kiddu Lane car seat from sale until they’ve had an opportunity to conduct further tests, which we welcome.
“It is the right decision and we urge any parent who is currently using this seat to get it professionally checked before further use.”
Honor Byford, chair of Road Safety GB, said: “We are publishing this information to help alert road safety professionals and, through them, anyone who has a Kiddu car seat so that they can contact Kiddu or the retailer from whom they bought the seat for more information and advice.
“We look forward to hearing the findings of the Kiddu investigations, which we will of course also publicise.”
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