Jogging Stroller Recalls Issued Due to Strangulation Risk

About 13,000 Tike Tech and Valco jogging strollers have been recalled because their design could allow a child to be strangled by the grab bar. 

The two jogging stroller recalls were announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The commission has determined that the strollers for jogging both have the same defect: that the opening between the grab bar and the bottom of the stroller can allow an infant’s body to slip out, entrapping their head and potentially strangling them. Fortunately, there have no reported incidents in connection with the dangerous designs according to the federal safety regulators.

The CPSC has issued a stroller safety alert (pdf) warning parents not to leave children to sleep in strollers unattended due to the risk of strangulation and head injuries from falls, which is the most common type of stroller injury. The CPSC estimates that about two children die per year from stroller-related incidents, and noted that in a recent one-year period, an estimated 14,400 children under the age of 5 were treated in hospital emergency rooms due to stroller-related incidents.

The stroller recall includes about 12,000 Valco Baby Tri Mode single and twin jogging strollers. The recalled strollers have “Valco Baby” printed on the head rest and padding on the foot board. The recall includes the following model numbers, which are printed on a white sticker on the left side of the brake bar: RUN6140, RUN6141, RUN6142, RUN6143, RUN6144, RUN6145, RUN6146, RUN6147, RUN7710, RUN7711, TRI8800,TRI8801,TRI8802, TRI8803, TRI8890, TRI9103, TRI9104, TRI9105, TRI9106, TRI1033, TRI1034, and TRI1035.

The Valco Baby strollers were sold at children stores and online, including at www.amazon.com, from November 2007 through March 2010 for between $480 and $700.

The other jogging stroller recall affects about 800 Tike Tech Single City X3 and X3 Sport jogging strollers. The recalled strollers have “Tike Tech” printed on the footrest and on the back left and right sides. The recall affects the following ID codes, which can be found on the inside left side of the frame: TT-18-01, TT-18-02, TT-18-03, TT-18-04, TT-18-05, TT-18-06, and TT-18-07.

The Tike tech strollers were sold at children stores and online, including www.amazon.com, from October 2009 through February 2010 for about $300.

The CPSC recommends that parents who have the recalled strollers remove the grab bars and contact Valco Baby at recall@valcobaby.com or Tike Tech at recall@tiketech.com for a free replacement grab bar.