Designer 22 Infant Seat: Potential Separation from Base

http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/safedrivers/childsafety/notices/2009c02/menu.htm

TP 14566 - Consumer Information Notice
Child Restraint Systems
2009-C02 E
August 5, 2009

Road Safety
Information: 1-877-505-2223

Manufacturer:
Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc.
2525 State Street
Columbus, IN 47201
U.S.A.
Web site: www.djgusa.com

Importer and Distributor:
Dorel Distribution Canada
873 Hodge
St-Laurent, QC H4N 2B1

Consumer Contact:
1-866-556-0029

Media Contact:
Rick Leckner 1-514-731-0000

Models Affected:
Designer 22 infant restraint systems with adjustable base under brand names of Cosco, Eddie Bauer, Safety 1st and Quinny

Dates of Manufacture:
January 1, 2001 to March 19, 2009

Number of Units:
259,529

Geographic Distribution:
Across Canada

Issue:

The Designer 22 is a rear-facing infant car seat. It is designed to be used in a vehicle with or without a detachable base. Although the seat meets the mandatory safety standards, research testing that went beyond the existing standards has shown that, when used with the base, the seat may separate from the base or the base may crack during a severe frontal collision. Separation of the seat from the base occurred only when using the vehicle's three point seat belt assembly.

Background and Company Action:

During Transport Canada in-vehicle crash tests, some Designer 22 infant seats separated from the base and some bases cracked. Further testing and analyses using an acceleration sled to replicate the crash forces seen in the earlier vehicle tests had the same result. These in-vehicle crash tests exceeded the existing performance requirements of the safety standards, and are not mandated in any jurisdiction worldwide.

Additional independent compliance surveillance and certification assurance testing done by both Transport Canada and the importer, Dorel Distribution Canada, respectively, confirm that these infant seats comply with the applicable Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (CMVSS) 213.1, with no evidence of seat-from-base separation. A further review of prior Transport Canada compliance surveillance test records and the manufacturer's own certification test records for both the Canadian and U.S. market seats also show no indication of seat-from-base separation.

Over two million units of the Canadian and U.S. models of the Designer 22 have been sold - nearly 260,000 in Canada. Transport Canada, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the manufacturer and the importer are not aware of any injuries and no confirmed in-use occurrences have been reported involving seat-from-base separation.

During the review period, the importer has been mainly cooperative with Transport Canada and has provided all requested documentation. Although Dorel does not consider the Designer 22 to be defective in any way, it is undertaking voluntary action to introduce a number of production changes to the infant seat to improve its performance in more severe collisions than is currently required in the safety standards.

Transport Minister John Baird has instructed officials to fully review the current safety standards for protecting children in car seats during a crash. Further actions will be explored and all necessary steps taken to keep children as safe as possible.

Consumer Recourse:

To avoid the possibility of a seat-from-base separation, Transport Canada highly recommends that the users of the seat follow the manufacturer's "without base" method of installing the infant seat in the vehicle using the vehicle seat belt, according to the manufacturer's instructions. As always, particular attention should be paid to the manufacturer's instructions regarding the leveling of the infant seat in the vehicle, and the recommended useful life of the product.

We remind Canadians that the proper use of a child car restraint is vitally important to keep children safe in case of a collision. Please call 1-800-O-Canada (1-877-505-2223) for information on car seat clinics.

Consumers who may be missing their instruction manual may call Dorel Distribution Canada's helpline at 1-866-556-0029 to request a replacement copy.

You can report any concerns with children's car seats to Transport Canada at the following address: https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/7/PCDB-BDPP/Index.aspx.

Transport Canada: 1-877-505-2223

Oh. My. Goodness. How likely do we think it is that 260,000 parents are going to get the memo to stop using the base? That is the seat I had with Riley and the seat never snapped onto the base properly. It either wouldn't click in, would get stuck in the base, or one side would come undone after it was clicked in.

April said:

Oh. My. Goodness. How likely do we think it is that 260,000 parents are going to get the memo to stop using the base? That is the seat I had with Riley and the seat never snapped onto the base properly. It either wouldn't click in, would get stuck in the base, or one side would come undone after it was clicked in.

Click to expand...

I'm editing this post to correct something I had misunderstood - the recommendation should be to install without the base for any seat made in the affected period. It does not matter if it is a UAS, lap only, or lap/shoulder belt in the seating position, the seat should be installed baseless with the seatbelt according to directions.

But yeah, most parents aren't going to get this. I talked to a parent a few weeks back who had never in the entire time since she'd had kids checked for recalls on her kid's seats - and her oldest was around 7 or 8yrs old. (Baby was in an expired and most likely recalled on my way...)

Interesting. I'm not sure I like the suggested solution though, can you imagine how many people are going to be peeved that they can't use the base (for a l/s install anyway)? I wonder if it's because they want the shoulder belt routed back through the base instead of against the vehicle seatback...

tiggercat said:

Interesting. I'm not sure I like the suggested solution though, can you imagine how many people are going to be peeved that they can't use the base (for a l/s install anyway)? I wonder if it's because they want the shoulder belt routed back through the base instead of against the vehicle seatback...

Click to expand...

I know of at least one person who has basically discarded the entire notice because a) the idea was contrary to what this person wants to do, and b) it wasn't on Dorel's site yet.

The good news is, that this seat is actually relatively easy to install without a base and it has the routing of the shoulder portion of the belt behind the seat itself. I've encountered parents who are installing the seat without the base already because they couldn't get the base installed tightly enough - and they're very proficient at installing the seat without the base and getting it good and tight. I think it's more a mental thing now that bases are pretty much standard with all infant seats.

snowbird25ca said:

The base can still be used if it's a UAS or lap-only belt installation. :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

I've received clarification from TC that the recommendation is to not use the base at all. So seatbelt install without the base for any seat made prior to March 19, 2009.

Basically if a parent has a seat made prior to March 19, 2009, they should not be using the base period.

I apologize for the confusion.

eta: A reminder for everyone since not all parents are going to have their manuals, that there will be a picture on the side of the seat showing a baseless installation and the correct routing of the belt. The designer 22 seat does have an atypical routing than most of us are used to in that the shoulder portion in a l/s install is routed behind the shell of the seat whenever the belt is long enough. In the event that the seatbelt isn't long enough Dorel does allow the shoulder belt to be left against the back of the vehicle seat. Also remember that a baseless install isn't secure in quite the same way - if you push down on the foot of a baseless install it is possible to tip an acceptable install, thus making it more important to make sure movement is being checked for properly.

I'm a bit confused about this - just heard about it on the radio - and I'm not sure how you identify which seats are affected? These are infant RF bucket seats, correct? Is there specific names of models or is the recommendation that *any* Dorel-produced seat purchased before March 2009 be used baseless?

My concern is that we're getting an infant seat from my SIL and the whole appeal of it (beyond that we're getting it for free) is the ability to have the 'carrier' part to snap into the base. I have to confirm first, but I think the seat we're getting isn't affected, but if it is, sounds like I'll have to buy my own or there's no benefit to the seat over a convertible if you can't use the base.
(Sorry that's probably confusing, I have a headache. Never type with a headache!)

Thanks,
Melissa

*Designer 22*

The model will be identified on the sticker on the seat.

-Nicole.

And here we have the response from Dorel: http://www.djgusa.com/usa/eng/Safet...er-Information-Notice-on-Designer-22-Car-Seat

Must've been written by the same people that came up with the response to the "RF to age 4" report in the UK. (http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=87209) Can we get a vomiting smiley please?

Why don't they just recall the base? Well I know why, because that would likely cost millions of dollars, but still, I am very very doubtful that people are going to stop using the bases.

Thanks Nicole, I'll have my SIL check for me when she can, though I think she said it was an evenflo seat (I don't have it yet).

I just read Dorel's response to the recall and it makes me sad. Specifically this line: "Dorel Distribution Canada believes this CIN is extremely misleading to consumers." ... because it was tested at higher than standard conditions, as if crashes ONLY happen within the same parameters that Dorel and/or TC uses for their standards? Makes me sad that they wouldn't at least repeat the TC suggestion that the seat be used without the base. Or if it's a problem with the base (as it seems to be, and not the actual seat), they should suck it up and offer to replace the bases for those who want them (within a reasonable time limit, obviously I don't think they need to replace the base on a seat that's already expired or going to expire in a few months). ETA: Cost them millions? Even if they only replaced those that were sold in the last year, at $50 each, how many millions could that be? Probably a small dent in the pockets of a company that's sold MILLIONS of these seats in North America. Even if they replaced all 260,000 affected, I'm sure they still made enough profit off their other products since 2001 that they'd still be a profitable company.
*sigh*

Melissa

Roughly $1.3 million to replace the bases......

April said:

Can we get a vomiting smiley please?

Click to expand...

I would like to sign up for one too!!

All I can say guys is that there are 2 sides to every story. My understanding is that the actual change may not be specifically with the base starting in March but possibly to the main seat itself. Meaning that replacing just the base wouldn't be enough, the entire seat itself would need to be replaced.

Without saying anything more - and please don't PM me because I won't say anything more in PM either, Dorel does re-iterate a point that is also stated in the CIN. (Information notice - which is different from a recall as well, I will add...) The point that is made in both is that the seat does pass all required standards, and that the testing which brought up the issue of the seat detaching from the base is testing which isn't standard. If it wasn't for the additional research being conducted, it would never have been discovered and this notice would never have come about.

And really, it makes an excellent point - we know that seats which meet CMVSS 213 and CMVSS 213.1 standards do a very good job of protecting children when installed and used correctly. With over 1/4 million seats in circulation the designer 22 has certainly been in use in a number of collisions and protected the kids restrained in it or we would know about it. (Or TC would at the very least - they usually hear directly from investigating officers and manufacturers will provide the information if asked.)

So when it comes down to it, we have no way of knowing how all the other seats with bases out there would perform if extra testing was done on them. And that's not meant as a criticism of anyone anywhere - it's simply an observation and saying that I don't think we can harshly judge Dorel in this instance. The seat does meet CMVSS 213 and CMVSS 213.1 standards and there were no structural integrity issues or separation from base issues when tested on our test bench with our crash pulse or the US test bench with their crash pulse. And that is ultimately the important point. And the reason why this isn't a recall but an information notice. The seat meets all required standards the way it is, but now that we know there's a potential issue, the recommendation is don't use the base "just in case." In a way it's kind of a liability thing - if something did happen after all these years and it was determined that extra testing had brought up the problem, everyone would be upset that nobody notified the general public... so instead the general public is being told that this seat may have a problem in extreme circumstances, so don't use the base just in case. HOWEVER, it meets all required standards. Loosely translated, it's saying don't use the base - but the seat is perfectly safe to use.

We can rest assured that if there had been separation from base in routine compliance testing that this would be a recall. And dorel's response would be much different in that case I'm sure...

QuassEE said:

*Designer 22*

The model will be identified on the sticker on the seat.

-Nicole.

Click to expand...

These are sold under safety 1st, quinny, and eddie bauer brands - Most of the dorel infant seats are designer 22 seats with different names, but designer 22 should be on the model/DOM sticker on all of them as Nicole said. :thumbsup:

Just incase..

Cosco
Dorel
Safety 1st
Eddie Bauer
Quinny
Maxi-Cosi
Schwinn

Did I miss any? These are the brand names that are owned and marketed by Dorel Juvenile Products.

One thing I'm curious about--did the Opus have this same base?

-Nicole.

QuassEE said:

Just incase..

Cosco
Dorel
Safety 1st
Eddie Bauer
Quinny
Maxi-Cosi
Schwinn

Did I miss any? These are the brand names that are owned and marketed by Dorel Juvenile Products.

One thing I'm curious about--did the Opus have this same base?

-Nicole.

Click to expand...

Would the Maxi Cosi Mico be included? The base seems slightly different to me.

QuassEE said:

Just incase..

Cosco
Dorel
Safety 1st
Eddie Bauer
Quinny
Maxi-Cosi
Schwinn

Did I miss any? These are the brand names that are owned and marketed by Dorel Juvenile Products.

One thing I'm curious about--did the Opus have this same base?

-Nicole.

Click to expand...

Would the Maxi Cosi Mico be included? The base seems slightly different to me.

No, it's a different seat. Maxi-Cosi is owned by and distributed by Cosco here in Canada... I'm trying to think if there was a Maxi-Cosi stroller that had a Designer 22 on it, or if it was just the Quinny strollers..

-Nicole.

Your post made it sound like the Mico is included in the recall.

I'm well aware what Dorel owns. :thumbsup:

You can dock a Maxi Cosi Mico on a Quinny Zapp and Buzz.

You cannot dock a Quinny designer 22 on a Maxi Cosi stroller (Foray).

And if you have a Quinny 4 Freestyle you can dock a Quinny car seat but not a Maxi Cosi Mico.

Fun hey?

Maxi Cosi has only ever been the Mico in Canada so far as I'm aware, and it has a different base. (Which has an ease of use statement on Dorel's website, regarding attaching the seat to the base for certain DOM, so have a look at that if you haven't already - it's not on TC's website as there's no notice associated with it at this point.)

There wasn't an infant only seat branded Schwinn - just summit, 3in1, booster, and an infant/child seat (probably scenera with the Schwinn padding is best guess.)

There has never been a Maxi Cosi travel system with a designer 22 seat so far as I'm aware. The only Maxi Cosi branded strollers are the Perle and Foray I believe and they only take the Mico seat. Actually, thinking further, there has never been a Maxi Cosi travel system - the seats and strollers are only available separately. :thumbsup: