Evenflo Recalls 450,000 Car Seats

Evenflo corporation along with the NHTSA and CPSC* is recalling the Evenflo Embrace infant car seat Thursday after reports of injuries when the handle portion of the carrier failed to stay up.

If you own one or know someone that does it's important for this car seat to not be carried with the handle up for risk of baby falling out and getting hurt. You can call Evenflo at this phone number 1-800-490-7497 to request a kit to fix the problem of the handle slipping. Also, don't hesitate to give the above customer service number a call if you have any questions or concerns about whether or not your car seat is included in the current recall. Consumers may also visit this website www.EmbraceHandle.com for more details.

Evenflo is also sending out notices and fix-it kits to their customers who have registered their infant car seat with the company. This is one reason why filling out those self addressed and often postage paid cards to register your product is especially important. Car safety seats are often recalled for various reasons and is one item you just can't be too careful about with regards to keeping your child out of harm.

The car seat is still able to be used in a vehicle as a child safety seat however children should be strapped in tightly at all times whether in the car or not and the rotating handle should not be used to carry the car seat until the problem is fixed. Evenflo car seats are unique compared to other infant seats on the market because of their z shaped handle designed to allow comfortable carrying. Infant seats are used for children under a year of age and are portable to make transporting sleeping babies easier.

Evenflo says they have received over 679 reports of the handle releasing and 160 reports of injuries as a result. Those included concussions, skull fractures and bumps and bruises to the babies face and head. The infants were being carried around in the car seat using the handle when it malfunctioned causing the seat portion to flip over towards the ground. Children unrestrained or not properly buckled in are at more risk of falls and injuries when being carried in their car safety seats.

The models recalled have dates of manufacture from December 2004-September 2006 and were made in China. They were sold in department stores such as Target, Wal-mart, and Babies R Us among others and many online retailers.

450,000 car seats are affected by this recall and any made after this week will not be included in the recall and are considered safe to be used as a carrier.

Recalled model numbers include those that begin with:

317, 320, 397, 398, 540, 548, 549, 550, 556, 597, 598 or 599

The model numbers can be found on the bottom or base of the unit and are on a white label.

*NHTSA/CPSC (National Highway Traffic Administration and Child Passenger Safety Commision)

Sources:

"Evenflo car seat carriers recalled" CNN.money.com

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/10/news/companies/evenflo/

Recall Information. "Evenflo Product Support". Evenflo.com

http://safety.evenflo.com/cs/sc/cssc99_RD.phtml?rid=EFR18&src=WEB