On June 6, 2018, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission voted 4 to 0 to approve a new federal safety standard for children’s booster seats. Booster seats, or “juvenile chairs,” are small seats placed on top of adult chairs to help boost small children up to average dining height.

The new safety rule incorporates the most recent standards developed by ASTM International, a global developer of voluntary consensus standards. The federal standard also addresses additional risk factors to ensure consumers and their children can use booster seat products appropriately and safely. Guidelines of the CPSC’s new standard include;

• The retail package of the booster seat must indicate the minimum dimensions of the adult chair on which the booster seat will fit.
• All booster seats must have an active means of attaching to an adult chair, in order to prevent booster seats and children from falling off of the adult chair.
• Warnings on the booster seat must remind consumers to make sure the booster seat is securely fastened to the adult chair before each use.
• To prevent falls, consumers are also warned to stop children from pushing away from the table while in the booster seat.

New standards a response to mounting incidents

CPSC received reports of a total of 912 incidents, including two deaths, related to booster seats between January 2008 and October 2017. The most common incident was a fall from the booster seat that resulted in a head injury, but other incidents stemmed from restraint issues, lock/latch failures, and tray design complications.

The rule will go into effect 18 months after date of publication in the Federal Register and will apply to products manufactured or imported on or after that date. At that time, it will become illegal to sell products in the United States that do not meet the updated regulation.

The Commission is required by Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act) to issue consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products. The Commission has approved new federal safety standards for several durable infant or toddler products, including full-size cribs, non-full-size cribs, play yards, baby walkers, baby bath seats, children’s portable bed rails, strollers, toddler beds, infant swings, handheld infant carriers, soft infant carriers, framed infant carriers, bassinets, cradles, portable hook-on chairs, infant sling carriers, infant bouncer seats, high chairs and baby changing products.

New Jersey and Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorneys

The Philadelphia personal injury attorneys at Messa & Associates know that most of the time, parents do all they can to keep their children safe. Often times, professional negligence gets in the way and we are left to deal with the physical and emotional consequences. It is great that government agencies are able enforce safety standards, but sometimes they come too late. Product manufacturers are responsible for producing good, safe products for our children. If your child has been injured by a booster seat or any other defective product, contact the Philadelphia personal injury attorneys at Messa & Associates. Our extremely skilled team of attorneys is experienced in cases regarding injuries to children. Call toll-free at 877-MessaLaw or submit a free online inquiry.

Let the attorneys at Messa & Associates secure peace of mind and financial security for you and your family.