Baby and infant product maker B.O.B. joined with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on October 11, 2011, to issue the second major recall of the company’s jogging strollers within 8 months. Both alerts to parents who own the single and double strollers came in the wake of reports that infants had swallowed and nearly asphyxiated on accessories that had come loose from the strollers. Thankfully, no deaths have been traced to either the dangerous drawstrings that caused the first recall or the brand name patches that led B.O.B. to again alert people about risks from using the strollers.
The affected products were sold in the United States and Canada, and more than 400,000 of the jogging strollers are believed to be in homes across North America. B.O.B. is advising parents to remove the drawstring from the stroller’s canopy and to take off and throw away the patches. Concerned stroller owners can also contact B.O.B. by calling (855) 242-2245 or visiting www.bobnotices.com.
This video shows the CEO of B.O.B. demonstrating how to remove the hazardous drawstring from the recalled stroller:
Choking, strangulation and suffocation/asphyxiation risks have prompted recalls of millions of windows blinds with free-hanging drawstrings and thousands of sweatshirts sold through souvenir shops based in Virginia Beach, VA. Decades of reports of babies dying because they got trapped between crib mattresses and a crib wall led to an outright ban of drop-side cribs in 2010.
As a North Carolina personal injury attorney and mother, I’m pleased to see federal regulators and companies taking choking hazards to children seriously. I’d be happier if product that can injure and kill the most vulnerable members of our society never reached the market in the first place.
EJL