Consumers claimed that a defect in a popular stroller led to crashes, broken bones, and gashed faces - but Trump's CPSC reportedly refused to take action
- The Consumer Product Safety Commission is under fire for its handling of a lawsuit against Britax Child Safety, a UK-based manufacturer of strollers, high chairs, and car seats.
- The Washington Post reported that, from 2012, the CPSC has received 200 reports of "spontaneous failure of the stroller wheel" in Britax's BOB jogging strollers.
- Over 100 adults and children reportedly suffered injuries from these accidents, including broken bones, facial lacerations, and ruined teeth.
- But, according to the Post, President Donald Trump's appointees on the CPSC voted to give the manufacturer a settlement instead of advocating for a recall.
The CPSC is an independent government agency that is responsible for developing product safety standards. Presidents appoint partisan commissioners, who serve seven-year terms. The president also selects the five-person commission's chairperson.
The CPSC launched an investigation into Britax's BOB single- and double-occupant jogging strollers, as consumers issued 200 reports of "spontaneous failure" of the stroller's wheel between 2012 and 2018. Those reports described over 100 injuries of adults and children, including gruesome details like broken bones, torn-up faces, and shattered teeth.
Britax and the CPSC did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
The commission brought a lawsuit against the manufacturer in February 2018, after the company refused to launch a voluntary recall of the strollers the year before.
But in November, the commission reached a settlement with Britax. Instead of recalling the product, the company agreed to post a video about the strollers as part of an "information campaign" and offer affected consumers replacement parts and discounts for a year.
Read more: Product recalls can't happen as usual during the government shutdown - and it could put consumers in a dangerous situation
"I can't quite overstate how far this settlement departs from what is usual standard practice in a corrective action plan for a manufacturer," Nancy Cowles, the executive director of child-focused consumer protection group Kids in Danger, told Business Insider.
Democratic commissioners Robert Adler and Elliot Kaye, who voted against their three Republican colleagues, also voiced criticisms of the decision in a dissent.
"We regret this not only because we believe consumers will come up short in terms of safety, but also because we fear that other respondents will invoke this agreement as a precedent in future recalls, thereby lessening safety for far more consumers than are affected by this agreement," Adler and Kaye wrote.
Kaye previously told ABC that, under Republican leadership, the CPSC would do "an abrupt 180-degree on safety." The Washington Post reported that, under acting chairwoman Buerkle's leadership, "the number of public recalls fell to its lowest level in a decade" in 2018.
Cowles told Business Insider that Buerkle typically focuses more on "educating" consumers rather than cracking down on companies. But Cowles added that protecting children from harmful products "should be above politics."
"What parents really need is that - when they go out to buy a product that they'll use to care for their child, whether it's a crib, stroller, high chair, or a toy - that someone's made sure it's safe before it gets into their home," Cowles said. "And if it's found to be unsafe, they need someone to make the effort to get it out of their home."