Safety regulators and Century Announce Recall of Infant Car Seats/Carriers

Recall number

01012

Date

Oct 13, 2000

Company

Century Products (Century)

Units affected

4,000,000

Product

Century rear-facing infant car seats/carriers

Product type

Infant Carriers/Slings/Backpacks/Car Seats

Hazard

Falls

Sue Bailey. "The recall announced today is only related to using the seat as a carrier (not how the seat performs while in a car). Parents should continue using these carriers as car seats." The recall involves all Century rear-facing infant car seats/carriers with one-piece handles, manufactured from January 1991 through July 1997. The date of manufacture, written as month, day, year (010191 through 073197), can be found on a label on the side of the seat. The recalled car seats/carriers have a molded, one-piece, one-color plastic handle colored white, gray, or tan.

When the seat is used as an infant carrier, the handle can break. An infant inside the carrier can fall to the ground and suffer serious injuries. "Century is providing parents with new handles for their carriers. Installing the new handle will help keep your baby safe and secure."

Graco, which now owns the "Century" brand name, will provide consumers a free easy-to-install replacement handle. Consumers should not carry the seat by the handle until it has been replaced. Consumers can continue to use the product as a car seat.

Incidents

Century has received more than 2,700 reports of handle-related problems, including handles breaking, cracking or possibly not being locked, while the seat is being used as a carrier. In addition to these reports, Century has also received over 200 reports of injury, including concussions, skull fractures, lacerations, broken bones, bruises, and scratches as a result of such handle-related problems.

Sold at

Juvenile product, mass merchandise and major discount stores nationwide sold the car seats/carriers for about $40, when sold alone to about $130, when sold with a stroller.