The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are alerting consumers of a recall involving certain infant child restraints manufactured by Dorel Juvenile Group under Safety 1st, Cosco, Eddie Bauer and Disney branded names. Consumers should immediately stop using the infant seat carrying handle.

Dorel is recalling 447,000 seats because when used as an infant carrier, the bolts that attach the child restraint handle to the seat can loosen causing the handle to fully or partially separate from the seat creating a fall hazard. Consumers should not use the handle until the repair kit has been installed. The car seat is safe for use in a vehicle as it meets federal safety standards.

To receive a free repair kit, owners of the affected child restraint models should contact Dorel’s customer service department at 1-866-762-3316.

The affected child restraint models, produced from January 6, 2008 through April 6, 2009, are listed below, (more…)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today announced that Toyota has identified a vehicle-based remedy to fix a sudden acceleration safety issue involving floor mats trapping accelerator pedals in various Toyota and Lexus models. Toyota announced the recall of these vehicles in early October and said it would soon develop a vehicle-based remedy to reduce the risk of a crash due to accelerator pedal entrapment.

The models involved in the recall are: 2007 to 2010 MY Camry, 2005 to 2010 MY Avalon, 2004 to 2009 MY Prius, 2005-2010 MY Tacoma, 2007-2010 MY Tundra, 2007-2010 MY ES 350, 2006-2010 MY IS 250, and 2006 to 2010 MY IS 350. (more…)

Toyota Announces Recall of 110,000 Tundra Pickups for Excessive Corrosion; Motorists Should Remove Spare Tires From the Underbody

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today alerted owners of certain Toyota Tundra vehicles to remove spare tires mounted underneath the body of the vehicle. Excessive corrosion due to “road salts” can cause the rear cross- member of the vehicle frame to fail and allow the spare tire to fall onto the roadway at any time, creating a road hazard for other vehicles.

Toyota has just announced a recall of these vehicles, but NHTSA recommends that owners remove the spare tires even before taking the vehicles to the dealers to be remedied. (more…)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is alerting consumers to immediately stop using Mia Moda Viva and Viva Supreme infant child restraint systems due to safety defects. Owners will need to obtain another seat; young children should never be transported in a motor vehicle without a proper safety restraint system.

Lerado, the manufacturer, is recalling 5,540 seats and bases because they could fail to adequately restrain a child in the event of a crash. (more…)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today alerted owners of Ford vehicles about a fire hazard involving an additional 4.5 million vehicles in the latest in a series of related recalls.

Including today’s announcement (Tuesday, October 13, 2009), there has been a total of eight safety recalls involving approximately 16 million Ford vehicles equipped with a faulty cruise control deactivation switch manufactured by Texas Instruments. (more…)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today (Tuesday, September 29, 2009) alerted Lexus and Toyota owners about conditions that could cause the accelerator to get stuck open under certain conditions. The agency strongly recommends taking out removable floor mats on the driver’s side in certain models and not to replace them with any other mat, either from Toyota or any other brand.

“This is an urgent matter,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “For everyone’s sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration.”

(more…)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is alerting consumers of a recall involving certain Dorel Juvenile Group’s Maxi-Cosi Mico infant child restraints.

Dorel is recalling the child restraints because of attachment difficulties between the infant carrier and the base. If the carrier is improperly mounted to the base, the child could be injured in the event of a crash. The affected models include the Maxi-Cosi Mico infant child restraint systems, models 22-371 and 22-372, and Maxi-Cosi Mico infant child restraint system – base only, model 22-515, produced from July 2007 through February 17, 2008.

Dorel will replace the Mico base free of charge. (more…)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is alerting consumers of a recall involving RECARO “Signo” child safety seats

RECARO is recalling these convertible child safety seats because the central front adjuster strap on some seats may slip within the metal adjuster (A-Lock) that controls the tightness of the harness straps, thereby preventing those straps from being tightened enough to properly secure a child in the seat. The affected models include RECARO Signo seats manufactured from February through September 2008.

RECARO will replace any defective seat free of charge. (more…)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is alerting consumers of a recall involving certain Britax Frontier™ child restraints that could fail to properly secure young passengers in the event of a vehicle crash.

“It is extremely important that parents and caregivers are aware of the recall and take action to get their child restraints repaired,” said NHTSA Acting Administrator David Kelly.

Britax is recalling these child seats because the harness straps may detach from the metal yoke on the back of the child restraint if repeatedly loosened one strap at a time. (more…)