"Largest Recall in U.S. History" was the headline in almost every media outlet across the country recently. When the news broke that nearly 34 million vehicles were involved in a massive recall because of a serious defect in Takata airbags, people everywhere tuned in to see if the recall would impact their vehicle and to learn how quickly they could eliminate the risk.
Car-related recalls get attention in the media and the majority of car owners take action. But what about the other life-threatening products that are recalled? According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 75 percent of people will get their cars fixed if there's a recall on a vehicle, yet only 40 percent will act if there's a recall on a child's car seat.
Consider this: In 2014, more than 7.4 million car seats were recalled by NHTSA. This was the largest car seat recall in U.S. history. Unfortunately, many parents were never made aware of these recalls because they didn't register their car seat. Every car seat comes with a registration form and you can also register online, yet it's often ignored by consumers who wrongly assume it's just an invitation to receive unwanted mail from the company. In fact, manufacturers are forbidden by law to use registration information for marketing purposes.
We take the issue of safety seriously and so do many parents. It's time we focused more attention on the simple act of registering child products. Standards are set to ensure the safety of children's products, but without a complete registration, manufacturers cannot reach you.
There are steps you can take to ensure you're alerted when there is an issue. Register your product with the model number, serial number and date of manufacture found on the product. Manufacturers will only contact you if there is a safety issue with your product. Sign up for the Safe Kids Worldwide recalls newsletter and visit our website for a comprehensive list of child-related recalls collected from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.