Graco Child Seat Recall Issued Over Inadequate Restraints

More than 25,000 Graco child seats have been recalled, due to a risk that the restraint webbing may fail, potentially allowing children to be ejected from the car seat in an accident.

The Graco child seat recall was announced by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on May 19, after it was discovered that the harness webbing failed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. To date, no injuries or issues have been reported in relation to the recall.

According to the recall notice, the NHTSA alerted Graco in March 2016 that routine testing found a My Ride 65 car seat failed to hold and restrain an occupant at federal standards. NHTSA warned that children could be at an increased risk of injury during a crash.

In response to the NHTSA testing child seat failure report, Graco opened its own investigation in May 2016, and could not replicate a test in which the child restraint webbing failed to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) Child Restraint Systems.

After Graco concluded their own investigation, and chose not to pursue a recall, the NHTSA informed the company of a second testing failure of a My Ride 65 car seat in April 2017. After receiving the second failed test report, Graco determined that the issue may be tied to one batch of sewn webbing, and after meeting with the NHTSA, determined a safety recall was necessary.

The recall includes an estimated 25,494 Graco My Ride 65 convertible child restraints with model numbers 1871689, 1908152, 1813074, 1872691, 1853478, 1877535, 1813015, and 1794334.

The car seat restraints were sold with the Graco My Ride car seats that were manufactured from May 2014 through August 2014. They were sold at national retailers and various online retailers for between $120 and $200.

Graco will begin notifying customers and dealers of the issue immediately, and plans to supply customers with a free placement harness by the end of July 2017.

Customers with recalled car seat restraints may either find an alternative car seat to use for their children until the replacement restraint is delivered, or if no alternative means of restraining the child in a car seat are available, customers may continue using the Graco car seat with restraints, according to Jennifer Stockburger, Director of Operations Consumer Reports Auto Test Center.